American International Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

American International Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 401,183 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,505 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $37,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 283.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,186,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,583,000 after acquiring an additional 876,790 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 603,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,772,000 after acquiring an additional 13,416 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,251,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $857,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,000. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PM. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

NYSE:PM traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $102.20. The stock had a trading volume of 5,643,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,463,426. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.57. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.23 and a twelve month high of $104.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.32.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.58% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 21st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 21st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.09%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.