Exeter Financial LLC Purchases 191 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Exeter Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,106 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PM. FMR LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,454 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 161.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,936,000 after buying an additional 1,200,636 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 10,033.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,039,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,347,000 after buying an additional 1,029,386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.39.

Insider Activity

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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $117.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $182.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.54. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $134.15. The company’s fifty day moving average is $126.08 and its 200 day moving average is $120.95.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The firm had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.60%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.