Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,044,468 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,016 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Philip Morris International worth $125,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,818,000 after purchasing an additional 621,034 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,785,987 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,422,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,615,449,000 after purchasing an additional 190,201 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley began 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 for the company. Argus upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

PM stock opened at $151.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $236.26 billion, a PE ratio of 33.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $159.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $139.10 and its 200 day moving average is $130.08.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In related news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,103,610.88. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.