Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Sold by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,741 shares of the company’s stock after selling 486 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PM. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Centurion Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total transaction of $5,954,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 547,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,495,308.62. The trade was a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $155.17 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.10. The firm has a market cap of $241.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.