Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Stock Position Raised by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173,180 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,352 shares during the period. Philip Morris International comprises about 1.2% of CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $20,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PM. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at $967,000. Fernwood Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Fernwood Investment Management LLC now owns 34,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,479 shares in the last quarter. Amitell Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,183,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,513,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 409.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,469,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

NYSE PM opened at $148.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.86. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $163.08.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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. StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,117,354.12. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.