Townsquare Capital LLC Buys 17,794 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 284,680 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,794 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $34,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PM. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,866,678,000 after buying an additional 6,092,558 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter worth $522,214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,286,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,241,837,000 after purchasing an additional 3,185,258 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,934,083,000 after buying an additional 2,785,987 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,249,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,714,883,000 after buying an additional 1,248,561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.44.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $153.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $239.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $163.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $152.03 and its 200-day moving average is $134.63.

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

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $378,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Company 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.