Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Trims Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 308,483 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,012 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $37,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. FMR LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,454 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,341,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,551 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 161.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,636 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,467,000 after buying an additional 1,165,554 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PM shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price 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. 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 report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $128.99 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $134.15. The stock has a market cap of $200.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.27.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This is a positive change 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 4.19%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

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.