Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Sells 148,453 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lowered its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,712,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 148,453 shares during the quarter. Philip Morris International comprises 1.5% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $446,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 19,127 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after buying an additional 16,035 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 53,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after acquiring an additional 18,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings 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 valued at $40,572,000 after acquiring an additional 20,390 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,584,994.24. This represents a 7.62 % 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 worth $19,655,585 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Argus upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.1 %

Philip Morris International stock opened at $155.17 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $159.51. The firm has a market cap of $241.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $145.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.14.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. 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.