Grant Private Wealth Management Inc Takes $225,000 Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Grant Private Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PM. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 144.5% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 7,784 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,077,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 337.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,441,000 after purchasing an additional 34,565 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.7% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,004,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,798,000 after purchasing an additional 36,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 604.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 465,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,503,000 after buying an additional 399,400 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Philip Morris International stock opened at $156.24 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $242.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $159.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.82.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total value of $5,954,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 547,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,495,308.62. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at $3,117,354.12. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PM. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group boosted 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. Argus upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, 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.