Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Sold by Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC

Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC decreased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,190,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 196,300 shares during the quarter. Philip Morris International makes up approximately 7.1% of Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $624,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PM. Range Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 504.9% during the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 19,127 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised 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 raised 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. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 53,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,485,000 after purchasing an additional 18,183 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 337,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,572,000 after purchasing an additional 20,390 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $1,486,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 106,244 shares in the company, valued at $15,795,295.48. This represents a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of PM stock opened at $155.17 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $145.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.10. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.82 and a 1 year high of $159.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $241.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

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 $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Philip Morris International 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.