SLT Holdings LLC Makes New $665,000 Investment in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

SLT Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $665,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Range Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 504.9% in the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after buying an additional 19,127 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3,553.3% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 206,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,125,000 after buying an additional 201,294 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after buying an additional 16,035 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after buying an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the third quarter valued at approximately $692,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 1.6 %

PM opened at $151.05 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $159.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $136.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.07. The company has a market cap of $234.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. Research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 106,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,795,295.48. This trade represents a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.