Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) Price Target Raised to $115.00

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $108.00 to $115.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Societe Generale raised shares of Philip Morris International from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $87.50 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus reissued a hold rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $105.50.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM stock opened at $95.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $147.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.61. Philip Morris International has a 1-year low of $87.23 and a 1-year high of $100.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.18.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.83% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Analysts expect that Philip Morris International will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total transaction of $1,928,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total value of $772,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 94,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,860,113.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,250 shares of company stock worth $3,339,528. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Philip Morris International

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,416,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,495,794,000 after buying an additional 4,869,272 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,821,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,575,742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121,732 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,147,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,587,542,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304,089 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,396,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,226,746,000 after acquiring an additional 125,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,126,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,234,963,000 after acquiring an additional 77,820 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.