InvesTrust Purchases New Shares in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

InvesTrust acquired a new position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 60,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,224,000. Philip Morris International makes up 2.0% of InvesTrust’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Range Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 504.9% during the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 19,127 shares in the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter worth $84,000. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 13,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,627,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at about $407,000. Finally, Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.39.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $121.22. 1,779,164 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,672,592. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $134.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $127.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.45.

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 firm had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the firm’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 owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.