QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 23,359 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 228,461 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,359 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $27,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,715,237,000 after purchasing an additional 224,840 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,818,000 after buying an additional 621,034 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,934,083,000 after buying an additional 2,785,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,752,000 after buying an additional 376,406 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $154.47 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $131.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.29. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $158.39. The company has a market cap of $240.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.25, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 3.50%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total transaction of $6,058,245.58. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,674,681.94. This represents a 6.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 128,143 shares of company stock worth $19,092,846. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.