Castleark Management LLC Acquires Shares of 87,160 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 87,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,490,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PM. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PM. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $182.00 price objective (up previously from $156.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total value of $6,058,245.58. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. The trade was a 6.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total value of $1,486,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 106,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,795,295.48. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 126,822 shares of company stock valued at $18,906,185 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

PM opened at $174.10 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.93 and a 52-week high of $176.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.99 billion, a PE ratio of 38.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $161.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.92.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.10 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 111.34%.

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.