Amica Mutual Insurance Co. Sells 16,772 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. cut its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 115,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,772 shares during the quarter. Philip Morris International makes up about 1.4% of Amica Mutual Insurance Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Amica Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $13,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centurion Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total transaction of $6,058,245.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 561,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. This trade represents a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.4 %

PM opened at $154.27 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $144.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.75. The stock has a market cap of $239.87 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.82 and a 1 year high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 119.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PM. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Argus upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.