Stifel Nicolaus Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM)

Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their buy rating on shares of Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $145.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $138.00.

A number of other analysts have also commented on PM. Citigroup lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $103.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.85.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $129.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.84. Philip Morris International has a 12-month low of $87.23 and a 12-month high of $133.27.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 12.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 105.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total value of $1,038,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 85,629 shares in the company, valued at $9,877,305.15. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 118,418 shares of company stock valued at $15,247,052. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Philip Morris International

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,556,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,511,292,000 after acquiring an additional 481,636 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 111,247,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,192,510,000 after buying an additional 1,684,992 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.1% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 60,217,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,517,085,000 after buying an additional 1,800,864 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 16.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,050,000 after buying an additional 1,856,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.4% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 10,655,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,079,767,000 after buying an additional 736,961 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.