Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Increases Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 286.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 37,218 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,582 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $4,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at about $168,000. Shell Asset Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 45,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 54,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,523,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 134,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,241,000 after purchasing an additional 14,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at $529,000. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $168.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $262.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.50. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $98.93 and a one year high of $176.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $159.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.99.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.08. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 111.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total value of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 126,822 shares of company stock worth $18,906,185. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $182.00 price target (up from $156.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.33.

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.