Annex Advisory Services LLC Buys 10,301 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 77.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,681 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,301 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,715,237,000 after purchasing an additional 224,840 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,886,818,000 after buying an additional 621,034 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after buying an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,752,000 after buying an additional 376,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Philip Morris International by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,430,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,056,957,000 after buying an additional 469,806 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on 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 increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.35.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE PM opened at $121.88 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $189.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $134.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.33.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. Philip Morris International’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.