CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 72,071 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,648 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $8,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PM. Range Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 504.9% in the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 19,127 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after acquiring an additional 16,035 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,912,000 after buying an additional 6,605 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 53,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after acquiring an additional 18,183 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in Philip Morris International by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 337,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,572,000 after purchasing an additional 20,390 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 547,426 shares in the company, valued at $81,495,308.62. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction of $6,058,245.58. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,674,681.94. This represents a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585 over the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:PM opened at $158.08 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $159.51. The company has a market cap of $245.79 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day moving average is $147.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.66.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

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.