Cooper Financial Group Raises Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Cooper Financial Group increased its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,042 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 71.4% in the third quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 4,999 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 504.9% in the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 19,127 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 3,553.3% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 206,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,125,000 after buying an additional 201,294 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter worth $692,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PM. Barclays reduced their price target on Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.39.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

PM stock opened at $117.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.95. The stock has a market cap of $182.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.54. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.