JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 383,982 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,914,977 shares of the company’s stock after selling 383,982 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $3,267,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PM. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,715,237,000 after purchasing an additional 224,840 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the 3rd 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 increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,752,000 after acquiring an additional 376,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 10,655,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,079,767,000 after purchasing an additional 736,961 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PM. Bank of America boosted 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of PM stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $121.71. The stock had a trading volume of 2,379,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,342,252. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $134.15. The firm has a market cap of $189.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $128.17 and its 200-day moving average is $119.13.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 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.