Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $1.58 Million Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. decreased its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 453 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,556,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,511,292,000 after buying an additional 481,636 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,416,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,495,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,869,272 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,396,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,226,746,000 after acquiring an additional 125,919 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,126,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,234,963,000 after acquiring an additional 77,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,439,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123,311 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PM. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.56.

Insider Activity

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE PM traded up $1.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $111.23. 4,003,943 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,345,139. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.18. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.23 and a twelve month high of $111.36.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.02. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.58% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.34 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 21st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 21st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

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.