Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) Price Target Raised to $115.00

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) had its price target boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $108.00 to $115.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Societe Generale raised Philip Morris International from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $87.50 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $105.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 1.1 %

PM opened at $95.02 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International has a 12-month low of $87.23 and a 12-month high of $100.79. The stock has a market cap of $147.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $91.90 and a 200-day moving average of $92.18.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Philip Morris International will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 94,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,860,113.27. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 35,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,339,528. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Philip Morris International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PM. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position 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 worth $5,495,794,000 after buying an additional 4,869,272 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position 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 worth $1,587,542,000 after buying an additional 4,304,089 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 worth $2,575,742,000 after buying an additional 3,121,732 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth $282,785,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,439,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,104,000 after buying an additional 2,123,311 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

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.