7,456 Shares in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Purchased by Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV

Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $905,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter worth $1,077,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 9.2% during the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 4,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 144.5% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 7,784 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.3% in the third quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 37.9% in the third quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $133.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.88. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $134.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

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.