Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Barclays from $145.00 to $175.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 11.22% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM opened at $157.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $244.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $131.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.10. Philip Morris International has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $158.23.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 106,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,795,295.48. The trade was a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 128,143 shares of company stock worth $19,092,846. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Philip Morris International

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PM. FMR LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,649,000 after buying an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,866,678,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092,558 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth $522,214,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 372.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,453,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,303,000 after buying an additional 4,298,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 122,584,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,752,926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,216,586 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

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.