TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Decreases Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors reduced its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,294 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,932,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,454 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 16.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,551 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $155,373,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,554 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PM shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $133.06 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $134.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $125.74 and a 200 day moving average of $115.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. Philip Morris International’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.