Plancorp LLC Buys 590 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Plancorp LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,943 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the quarter. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Centurion Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 2,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.85, for a total value of $4,465,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 139,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,705,779.25. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total value of $1,486,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 106,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,795,295.48. This represents a 8.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.8 %

PM stock opened at $151.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $235.16 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.14. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. On average, analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Argus raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.