ICW Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,433 shares of the company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PM. Nwam LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 4,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 19,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 4,958 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter worth $5,464,000. Finally, Towercrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter worth $476,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Argus raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 106,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,795,295.48. This represents a 8.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. This represents a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $151.25 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $235.16 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $159.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $142.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.22.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.