Bank of New York Mellon Corp Boosts Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 21.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,785,987 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.03% of Philip Morris International worth $1,934,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PM. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Philip Morris International by 71.4% in the third quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 4,999 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 504.9% in the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 19,127 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3,553.3% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 206,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,125,000 after purchasing an additional 201,294 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after purchasing an additional 16,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after buying an additional 6,605 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,674,681.94. This represents a 6.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 128,143 shares of company stock valued at $19,092,846 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.1 %

PM stock opened at $156.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $130.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.81. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $156.63.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. Equities analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

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.