Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Short Interest Down 16.9% in November

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,330,000 shares, a decrease of 16.9% from the October 31st total of 10,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Philip Morris International

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,715,237,000 after buying an additional 224,840 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,886,818,000 after acquiring an additional 621,034 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 16.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,341,050,000 after buying an additional 1,856,551 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,752,000 after purchasing an additional 376,406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.9 %

Philip Morris International stock opened at $133.06 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $125.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.77. Philip Morris International has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $134.15. The stock has a market cap of $206.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. 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.