State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 1,500 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 421,958 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $50,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PM. FMR LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the 3rd 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,454 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,934,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,987 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 161.6% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,936,000 after buying an additional 1,200,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,554 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 106,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,795,295.48. This represents a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 128,143 shares of company stock worth $19,092,846. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM opened at $158.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $246.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $158.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.18.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

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.