Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 8,175 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 316,309 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,175 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $37,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,085,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,037,000 after buying an additional 78,938 shares during the period. American Money Management LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. American Money Management LLC now owns 53,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,399,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 37,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,477,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Allianz SE purchased a new position in Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,544,000. Finally, Intrust Bank NA boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 18,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PM. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Argus raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Insider Activity

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total transaction of $6,058,245.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,674,681.94. The trade was a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $158.08 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $159.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.25 and a 200 day moving average of $132.66. The firm has a market cap of $245.79 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

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 negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.73%.

Philip Morris International 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.