Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos Sells 101,918 Shares

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE:PM traded down $2.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $129.86. 3,886,837 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,367,846. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.55. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.23 and a 1 year high of $133.27.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.85.

Institutional Trading of Philip Morris International

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,556,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,511,292,000 after buying an additional 481,636 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 111,247,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,192,510,000 after buying an additional 1,684,992 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 60,217,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,517,085,000 after buying an additional 1,800,864 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,341,050,000 after buying an additional 1,856,551 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 10,655,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,079,767,000 after buying an additional 736,961 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.