Cerity Partners LLC Sells 13,847 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 251,888 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,847 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $30,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. 49 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 1.6% during the third quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 12,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM stock opened at $129.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $202.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.85. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $134.15.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

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.