Sepio Capital LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Sepio Capital LP reduced its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,648 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,072 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $4,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 14.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth about $522,214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,286,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,241,837,000 after purchasing an additional 3,185,258 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 21.0% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 2,785,987 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,249,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,714,883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248,561 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PM. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total value of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 7.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $150.47 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $149.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.27. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $163.08. The company has a market cap of $234.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.73%.

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.