Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Has $1.39 Million Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,539 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,021 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 504.9% during the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 19,127 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,134,000 after buying an additional 16,035 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 4,614,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $560,164,000 after acquiring an additional 17,700 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 53,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after acquiring an additional 18,183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $150.32 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $138.50 and a 200-day moving average of $129.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

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.