Community Trust & Investment Co. Boosts Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,152 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $3,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,715,237,000 after buying an additional 224,840 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,818,000 after acquiring an additional 621,034 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,752,000 after purchasing an additional 376,406 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 10,655,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,079,767,000 after purchasing an additional 736,961 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of PM opened at $118.41 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $125.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.07. 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 cap of $184.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PM. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.39.

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.