Brokerages Set Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) PT at $105.40

Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $105.50.

PM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus reissued 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 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total transaction of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,050.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,339,528. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Philip Morris International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exeter Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 9,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 5,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Ziegler Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 27,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,513,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter worth $446,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM opened at $94.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.20. Philip Morris International has a 52-week low of $87.23 and a 52-week high of $100.79.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.83% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The company had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.48%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

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.