First Bancorp Inc ME Grows Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

First Bancorp Inc ME boosted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,268 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 106 shares during the quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,886,818,000 after acquiring an additional 621,034 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% during 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 during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.7% during 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 period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.35.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of PM opened at $127.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $197.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $125.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.97. 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 company had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. 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. As a group, analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

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.