Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,112,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,148 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.07% of Philip Morris International worth $133,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PM. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 53.7% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centurion Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $151.25 on Monday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $159.51. The firm has a market cap of $235.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.22.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.