Hancock Whitney Corp Raises Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1,161.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,332 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 73,045 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $9,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Blue Whale Capital LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 410,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,841,000 after buying an additional 5,551 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Philip Morris International during the third quarter valued at about $356,000. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 15.5% during the third quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 24,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,015,000 after buying an additional 3,332 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 19.5% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 322,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,208,000 after buying an additional 52,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.50.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $129.99 on Monday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $134.15. The company has a market cap of $202.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.85.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. Philip Morris International’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.71%.

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.