Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Sold by Romano Brothers AND Company

Romano Brothers AND Company lessened its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,588 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 139,432,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,780,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,810 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 122,584,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,752,926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,216,586 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,866,678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092,558 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,286,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,241,837,000 after acquiring an additional 3,185,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,276,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,262,000 after acquiring an additional 516,617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PM. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $130.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 price target (up previously from $156.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.20.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

NYSE:PM opened at $182.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.45, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $166.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.52. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.93 and a fifty-two week high of $183.94.

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

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International 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.