Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 3,019 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,973 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,019 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,932,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,454 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 16.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter valued at $155,373,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,467,000 after buying an additional 1,165,554 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 52.0% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,296,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,047,000 after buying an additional 1,127,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $133.06 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.77. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $134.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors 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 4.06%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

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.