Aljian Capital Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 8,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 119.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 5.7% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 22,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the first quarter worth $243,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 120.7% in the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 8,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 4,768 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $974,850.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

PM opened at $128.59 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $199.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.54. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $134.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.69.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.71%.

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.