Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP Makes New Investment in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 83,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,128,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,932,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,454 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,341,050,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,551 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Philip Morris International in the 2nd quarter valued at $155,373,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,554 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Philip Morris International stock opened at $131.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $125.26 and its 200-day moving average is $115.42. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Philip Morris International’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

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.