Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Position Increased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 322,963 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 52,692 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $39,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,454 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Philip Morris International by 16.3% during the second 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 buying an additional 1,856,551 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International in the 2nd quarter worth about $155,373,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,554 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 52.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,296,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Philip Morris International stock opened at $129.99 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $134.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $124.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.74. The company has a market capitalization of $202.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. 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 presently 85.71%.

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.