Sowell Financial Services LLC Has $5.49 Million Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 45,584 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,280 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $5,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 7.7% during the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 5,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Beckerman Institutional LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 3rd quarter worth about $462,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 14,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,136,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 1.6 %

Philip Morris International stock opened at $151.05 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.07. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $159.51. The company has a market cap of $234.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total value of $6,058,245.58. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 561,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. The trade was a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

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.