Modern Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,537 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,231 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,537 shares during the quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Range Financial Group LLC boosted 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 worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 19,127 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,134,000 after acquiring an additional 16,035 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,912,000 after purchasing an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased 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 purchasing an additional 18,183 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 182.4% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 4,402 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group increased 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE PM opened at $152.37 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. 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 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 negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. On average, equities research 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 given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 106,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,795,295.48. The trade was a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.85, for a total value of $4,465,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 139,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,705,779.25. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.