BankPlus Trust Department Invests $303,000 in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Philip Morris International by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,932,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,454 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Philip Morris International by 161.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,936,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,636 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Philip Morris International by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,170,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,432,000 after acquiring an additional 969,198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total value of $5,954,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 547,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,495,308.62. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 128,143 shares of company stock valued at $19,092,846 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE PM opened at $156.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.76 billion, a PE ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $130.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.81. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $156.63.

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

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 119.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PM. Barclays reduced their price objective on Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on 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, UBS Group upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.22.

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.