Delta Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Delta Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,715,237,000 after acquiring an additional 224,840 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,818,000 after acquiring an additional 621,034 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,752,000 after acquiring an additional 376,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,932,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,454 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM opened at $154.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $240.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.45. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.82 and a 1 year high of $154.64.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.85, for a total transaction of $4,465,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 139,105 shares in the company, valued at $20,705,779.25. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,117,354.12. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 128,143 shares of company stock worth $19,092,846. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.22.

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.