35,360 Shares in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Acquired by Chiron Investment Management LLC

Chiron Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 35,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,293,000. Philip Morris International accounts for about 1.5% of Chiron Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,715,237,000 after buying an additional 224,840 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,818,000 after buying an additional 621,034 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,341,050,000 after buying an additional 1,856,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 10,655,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,079,767,000 after buying an additional 736,961 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

PM stock opened at $128.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $200.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $126.86 and its 200 day moving average is $117.27. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.