Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 3,910 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Financial Counselors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 319,304 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,910 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $38,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 684.4% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Sachetta LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 64.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in Philip Morris International by 457.5% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM stock opened at $131.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $204.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.54. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $134.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.42.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. Philip Morris International’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 EPS 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. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This is an increase 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 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

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.