Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Acquired by Meridian Wealth Partners LLC

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,781 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PM. Range Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 504.9% in the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 19,127 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after purchasing an additional 16,035 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after purchasing an additional 6,605 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 53,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,485,000 after purchasing an additional 18,183 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 182.4% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 4,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of 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 downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Argus upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

PM opened at $151.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.16 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $142.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.18. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total transaction of $6,058,245.58. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,674,681.94. This represents a 6.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.