Argentarii LLC Acquires Shares of 3,018 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Argentarii LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $363,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 504.9% during the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 19,127 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3,553.3% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 206,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,125,000 after acquiring an additional 201,294 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after acquiring an additional 16,035 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $692,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total value of $6,058,245.58. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 561,349 shares in the company, valued at $83,674,681.94. This represents a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

PM stock opened at $151.05 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $136.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.07. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $159.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. Equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

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.