Bank of Montreal Can Increases Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 44.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,170,549 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 969,198 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.20% of Philip Morris International worth $382,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. 49 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.6% in the third quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.2% during the third quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.7% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 12,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.2% in the second quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE PM traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $129.73. 567,824 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,372,304. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $134.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $124.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.85. The stock has a market cap of $201.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by 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.