HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $7.31 Million Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,736 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $7,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 203.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.1 %

PM stock opened at $155.17 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $145.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $132.19. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $159.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid 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 payout ratio is 119.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 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 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.