Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM)

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 10,282 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 36% compared to the average daily volume of 7,564 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total value of $181,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at $882,050.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,250 shares of company stock worth $1,411,128 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PM. IRON Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the first quarter valued at approximately $715,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 8.1% during the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 4,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Canal Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.6% during the first quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 100,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,252,000 after purchasing an additional 8,842 shares during the period. Busey Bank raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.7% during the first quarter. Busey Bank now owns 190,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Finally, Sky Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.3% during the first quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 84,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,766,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PM. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Societe Generale raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.40.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

NYSE PM opened at $97.66 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International has a one year low of $87.23 and a one year high of $100.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $91.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.61.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 116.29%. The firm had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Philip Morris International’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 6.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.32%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 103.59%.

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.