First Foundation Advisors Decreases Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

First Foundation Advisors decreased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 32.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 139,656 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,236 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $16,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Philip Morris International by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 716,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,247,000 after buying an additional 5,494 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Philip Morris International by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 8,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,063,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Philip Morris International by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $818,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Kelman Lazarov Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $339,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. grew its position in Philip Morris International by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 46,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,631,000 after buying an additional 9,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley started 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. 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. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total transaction of $6,058,245.58. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,674,681.94. This trade represents a 6.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of PM opened at $152.53 on Thursday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $163.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.82, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

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.