New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Trims Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,111 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $8,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 57.2% in the third 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. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 161.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,636 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,554 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 13,666.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 999,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,367,000 after purchasing an additional 992,467 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PM. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $150.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $234.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $127.07 and its 200 day moving average is $124.89. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $151.22.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

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.