Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 320,218 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,754 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $38,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $1,341,050,000 after buying an additional 1,856,551 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 10,655,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,079,767,000 after buying an additional 736,961 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,430,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,957,000 after acquiring an additional 469,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 9,467,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,368,000 after acquiring an additional 86,667 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $131.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $125.50 and a 200 day moving average of $115.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.71%.

Philip Morris International 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.