Occidental Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Occidental Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,283 shares of the company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PM. Cypress Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 7,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $889,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 53,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after purchasing an additional 18,183 shares during the period. IFS Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,120,000 after purchasing an additional 6,097 shares during the period. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 7,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays reduced their price target on Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.35.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of PM opened at $121.88 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $134.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $125.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.05.

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

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

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.