Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC Purchases 639 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,686 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the period. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 8,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 8,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 70,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth about $245,000. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PM. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Societe Generale upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.40.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total value of $457,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,412,880.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total transaction of $772,447.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 94,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,860,113.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,411,128 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PM traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $90.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,301,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,422,937. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.23 and a fifty-two week high of $101.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $91.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.20. The company has a market cap of $140.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.61.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.08). Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 116.29%. The business had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.76%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.59%.

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.