Choate Investment Advisors Purchases 1,334 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Choate Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 33.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,364 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,416,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,495,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,869,272 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $282,785,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,439,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123,311 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 5,045.1% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,122,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,472 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 294.1% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,367,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,865,000 after buying an additional 1,766,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.0 %

Philip Morris International stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.06. 114,277 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,326,973. The business’s 50 day moving average is $101.49 and its 200 day moving average is $95.65. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.23 and a 52 week high of $106.63. The company has a market capitalization of $163.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.58.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.26% and a net margin of 8.58%. The business had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Philip Morris International’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 21st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 21st. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.22.

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.