Coho Partners Ltd. Sells 84,353 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Coho Partners Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 542,764 shares of the company’s stock after selling 84,353 shares during the period. Philip Morris International comprises approximately 3.0% of Coho Partners Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Coho Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $65,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pictet North America Advisors SA increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 27,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 171,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. CFC Planning Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth about $2,288,000. Finally, First Merchants Corp increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 28,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,460,000 after acquiring an additional 9,094 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:PM opened at $149.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $232.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.72. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $150.24.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share 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 9.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.56.

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.