Summit Trail Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 46,972 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $5,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake 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 last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 7.4% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 10,655,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,079,767,000 after buying an additional 736,961 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 4.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,430,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,056,957,000 after buying an additional 469,806 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.9% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 9,467,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,368,000 after buying an additional 86,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 57.2% during 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 buying an additional 3,363,454 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM stock opened at $129.99 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $134.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $124.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.74.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.