Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Acquired by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,213,298 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 146,169 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Philip Morris International worth $266,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PM. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,649,000 after buying an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at about $522,214,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,934,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,987 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 161.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,636 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 44.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,170,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,432,000 after purchasing an additional 969,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 106,244 shares in the company, valued at $15,795,295.48. This trade represents a 8.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM opened at $151.25 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.22. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $159.51. The stock has a market cap of $235.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

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.