Pure Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 216.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,947 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,326 shares during the quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PM. State Street Corp grew 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 worth $6,715,237,000 after purchasing an additional 224,840 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $3,886,818,000 after buying an additional 621,034 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew 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 worth $2,812,649,000 after buying an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 4.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,430,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,056,957,000 after acquiring an additional 469,806 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was 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 approximately $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:PM opened at $121.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $189.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $125.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.47.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 company’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.35.

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.