Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,382,992 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,858,620 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.47% of Philip Morris International worth $888,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 26,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares in the last quarter. May Hill Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth about $399,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 414.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 26,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,162,000 after purchasing an additional 21,163 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,286,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,241,837,000 after purchasing an additional 3,185,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 40,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,891,000 after buying an additional 9,614 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Philip Morris International stock opened at $158.08 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $159.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total value of $6,058,245.58. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. The trade was a 6.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total value of $562,739.84. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.