Ritholtz Wealth Management Cuts Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lowered its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 57.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,851 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,164 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 100,700.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,640,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,582,939,000 after buying an additional 15,624,628 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,147,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,587,542,000 after buying an additional 4,304,089 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 12.6% during 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 buying an additional 3,121,732 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1,034.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,203,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,808,000 after buying an additional 2,921,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,592,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,793,812,000 after buying an additional 1,745,868 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total transaction of $772,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 94,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,860,113.27. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total value of $457,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 102,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,250 shares of company stock worth $1,411,128 in the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock traded down $0.64 during trading on Thursday, hitting $91.59. 5,311,892 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,430,423. The stock has a market cap of $142.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $91.53 and its 200-day moving average is $92.47. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.23 and a 52 week high of $101.92.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 116.29%. Philip Morris International’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Societe Generale upgraded Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.40.

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.