Whitener Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 93 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 4,999 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 504.9% in the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 19,127 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3,553.3% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 206,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,125,000 after buying an additional 201,294 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after buying an additional 16,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PM has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.35.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM opened at $121.88 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $134.15. The company has a market capitalization of $189.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.05.

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

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International 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.