Taika Capital LP Buys Shares of 6,186 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Taika Capital LP bought a new stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $744,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. FMR LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter worth $522,214,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake 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 worth $1,121,932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,454 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,934,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,987 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 161.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,636 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Philip Morris International news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total transaction of $6,058,245.58. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,674,681.94. This trade represents a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE PM opened at $151.05 on Monday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $159.51. The company has a market cap of $234.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $136.06 and a 200-day moving average of $129.14.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

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.