Tufton Capital Management Cuts Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Tufton Capital Management cut its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,988 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,543 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $4,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PM. HF Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 11,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 147,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,871,000 after buying an additional 7,591 shares in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 16,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 3,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,000. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 for the company 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 target price 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.40.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM stock traded up $0.29 on Thursday, hitting $90.87. 1,285,364 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,436,015. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.23 and a 12 month high of $101.92. The stock has a market cap of $141.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $91.07 and a 200 day moving average of $92.02.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.08). Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 116.29% and a net margin of 8.53%. The company had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. Philip Morris International’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.