Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Purchased by Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. raised its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,830 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% in 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 57.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,932,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,454 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,934,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,987 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 161.6% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,554 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

PM stock opened at $155.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $132.90 and a 200-day moving average of $127.81. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $158.39.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. Equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.85, for a total transaction of $4,465,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 139,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,705,779.25. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 128,143 shares of company stock worth $19,092,846. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PM. UBS Group raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

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.