New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,373,909 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,330 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Philip Morris International worth $165,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 2,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 3,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.4 %

PM opened at $149.27 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $150.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $126.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.72. The company has a market cap of $232.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.24% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

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.