D.B. Root & Company LLC Sells 6,193 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

D.B. Root & Company LLC cut its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 66.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,193 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PM. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 5,006.0% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,958,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,908,000 after acquiring an additional 5,841,696 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 79.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,878,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,634,000 after purchasing an additional 2,599,684 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 16.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,551 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.1% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 60,217,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,517,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,864 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 111,247,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,192,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,684,992 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.85.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 5.2 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $125.31 on Thursday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $134.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.