Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases Shares of 128,900 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 128,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,513,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 38.5% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 46,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 225.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 23,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,841,000 after buying an additional 16,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 567.0% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,152,000 after buying an additional 43,075 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PM shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.44.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total value of $5,954,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 547,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,495,308.62. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $157.52 on Tuesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $163.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $152.56 and a 200-day moving average of $134.99. The company has a market capitalization of $245.18 billion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

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.