Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Raises Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 110.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,184 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,250 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Philip Morris International by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners grew its position in Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV grew its position in Philip Morris International by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 2,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE:PM opened at $152.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $236.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $159.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $141.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.95.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 119.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total value of $5,954,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 547,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,495,308.62. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.