Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 891 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 14.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,468 shares of the company’s stock after selling 891 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,282,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,145,000 after buying an additional 40,742 shares during the last quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the third quarter worth $773,000. Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.7% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 21,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,645,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 182.4% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 4,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the third quarter worth $3,818,000. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $132.28 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $125.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.30. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $134.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

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.