Emmanuel Babeau Sells 30,000 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Stock

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 30,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.9 %

Philip Morris International stock opened at $154.39 on Monday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $154.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 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, research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 203.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.22.

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.