Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $105.50.

Several brokerages have commented on PM. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group downgraded Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Societe Generale upgraded Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $94.97 on Monday. Philip Morris International has a 52-week low of $87.23 and a 52-week high of $100.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $91.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.20.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.26% and a net margin of 9.83%. The company had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.56%.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total transaction of $772,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 94,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,860,113.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total transaction of $1,928,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,205,859.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,339,528. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Philip Morris International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.1% in the fourth 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. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 12.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,821,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,575,742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121,732 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 33.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,147,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,587,542,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304,089 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,126,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,234,963,000 after acquiring an additional 77,820 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Company 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.