State Street Corp Acquires 224,840 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 224,840 shares during the period. State Street Corp’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $6,715,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PM. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 71.4% in the third quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after buying an additional 4,999 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3,553.3% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 206,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,125,000 after purchasing an additional 201,294 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter worth $692,000. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 4,614,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,164,000 after buying an additional 17,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 182.4% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 4,402 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $130.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $126.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.51. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.82 and a 1 year high of $134.15.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PM shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of 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 lifted their price target on shares of 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 assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

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.