Banco Santander S.A. Sells 35,168 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 77,811 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,168 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $9,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Smithfield Trust Co raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 34.2% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 12,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after acquiring an additional 3,214 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 561,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,141,000 after purchasing an additional 44,526 shares in the last quarter. Brown Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter worth about $215,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,121,932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the third quarter valued at about $234,000. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM stock opened at $131.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $124.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.39. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $134.15. The stock has a market cap of $204.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.