Prudent Man Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,903 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,401 shares during the period. Philip Morris International comprises about 0.7% of Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 3rd 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 grew its position in Philip Morris International by 2.0% in 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 boosted 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 valued at $2,812,649,000 after buying an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% during 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 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 valued at $1,560,752,000 after buying an additional 376,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PM. Morgan Stanley assumed 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 for the company. 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 research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of PM stock opened at $155.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $241.41 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $132.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.74. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $158.39.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. As a group, research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 106,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,795,295.48. This trade represents a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 128,143 shares of company stock valued at $19,092,846 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.