Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Sold by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 421,958 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $50,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PM. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,886,818,000 after buying an additional 621,034 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,934,083,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% during the third 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 last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PM shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Philip Morris International stock opened at $158.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $246.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $158.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.18.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. On average, analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In related news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total value of $5,954,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 547,426 shares in the company, valued at $81,495,308.62. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 128,143 shares of company stock valued at $19,092,846 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.