Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Makes New $248,000 Investment in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PM. FMR LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,341,050,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,551 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 10,655,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,079,767,000 after acquiring an additional 736,961 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,430,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,957,000 after acquiring an additional 469,806 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 9,467,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,368,000 after acquiring an additional 86,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 1.0 %

PM stock opened at $129.69 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $134.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.41.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

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.