15,161 Shares in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Bought by AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 15,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,825,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,866,678,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092,558 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at about $522,214,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,934,083,000 after buying an additional 2,785,987 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,200,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 139,432,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,780,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,810 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley began 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 for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction 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 $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, 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.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $154.27 on Thursday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $159.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.75.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

About Philip Morris International

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.