Verus Capital Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,706 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 224,840 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after buying an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,934,083,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Philip Morris International by 3.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,752,000 after acquiring an additional 376,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 106,244 shares in the company, valued at $15,795,295.48. This represents a 8.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 128,143 shares of company stock valued at $19,092,846 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:PM opened at $155.26 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $132.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.74. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $158.39. The firm has a market cap of $241.41 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS 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 analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

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.