Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Acquires 6,097 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 30.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,928 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,097 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $3,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.6% during the third quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the third quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 8,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PM shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.35.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $119.78 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $134.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $125.67 and a 200-day moving average of $121.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the business’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 transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.