South Dakota Investment Council Decreases Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

South Dakota Investment Council cut its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 115,614 shares of the company’s stock after selling 712 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $13,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. McAdam LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter valued at approximately $246,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 13,666.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 999,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,367,000 after purchasing an additional 992,467 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 18.5% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 3,096 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 10.2% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 23,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,827,000 after purchasing an additional 2,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total transaction of $5,954,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 547,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,495,308.62. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.85, for a total transaction of $4,465,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 139,105 shares in the company, valued at $20,705,779.25. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 128,143 shares of company stock valued at $19,092,846. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $154.39 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.82 and a 1 year high of $154.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $129.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.45. The stock has a market cap of $240.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

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.