Machina Capital S.A.S. Has $2.43 Million Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 71.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,218 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,454 shares during the quarter. Philip Morris International comprises about 1.0% of Machina Capital S.A.S.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,649,000 after buying an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter worth $522,214,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,932,000 after buying an additional 3,363,454 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,934,083,000 after buying an additional 2,785,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 161.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,936,000 after buying an additional 1,200,636 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of PM stock opened at $151.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $234.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $136.06 and a 200-day moving average of $129.00. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. The trade was 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 sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

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.