Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 409.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,469,536 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,181,222 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.09% of Philip Morris International worth $176,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PM. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 203.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,861,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 0.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,156,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,413,000 after acquiring an additional 10,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 86.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 116,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,203,000 after acquiring an additional 54,188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PM shares. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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. Argus upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,674,681.94. The trade was a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.2 %

PM stock opened at $150.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $163.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.57.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. 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.