Busey Bank Trims Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Busey Bank lowered its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 189,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,836 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $23,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PM. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the third quarter worth approximately $220,000. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.4% in the third quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 15,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 10.2% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 23,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,827,000 after purchasing an additional 2,149 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 251,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 638 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

NYSE:PM opened at $132.79 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.28. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.23 and a fifty-two week high of $132.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 12.10% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. Philip Morris International’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total transaction of $1,038,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 85,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.85.

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.