Westpac Banking Corp Takes Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $728,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PM. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 504.9% in the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 19,127 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after purchasing an additional 16,035 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,912,000 after purchasing an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 53,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after buying an additional 18,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 337,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,572,000 after buying an additional 20,390 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PM has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Argus upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In related news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total value of $562,739.84. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at $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 have sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Philip Morris International stock opened at $150.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $234.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.20. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.82 and a 1 year high of $163.08.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced 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 net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. Equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.73%.

Philip Morris International 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.