Welch & Forbes LLC Raises Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Welch & Forbes LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,861 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,174 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 2,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Detalus Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 81 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 Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 106,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,795,295.48. This represents a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total transaction of $5,954,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 547,426 shares in the company, valued at $81,495,308.62. The trade was a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PM. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

NYSE PM opened at $151.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $234.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $159.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $136.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.00.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

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.