Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Raises Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares during the quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 100,700.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,640,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,582,939,000 after acquiring an additional 15,624,628 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,147,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,587,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,089 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,821,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,575,742,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121,732 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1,034.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,203,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,808,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,592,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,793,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,868 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PM shares. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Societe Generale raised Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.40.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PM traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $91.62. The company had a trading volume of 5,311,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,349,124. The stock has a market cap of $142.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.61. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.23 and a 12 month high of $101.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.47.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.59%.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total transaction of $772,447.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 94,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,860,113.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total value of $181,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total value of $772,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 94,629 shares in the company, valued at $8,860,113.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,250 shares of company stock worth $1,411,128 in the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.