Cannell & Spears LLC Sells 3,285 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Cannell & Spears LLC cut its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,056 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,285 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC's holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $4,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 139,432,392 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,780,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,810 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,715,237,000 after buying an additional 224,840 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 14.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,276,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,079,262,000 after acquiring an additional 516,617 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PM. Argus raised Philip Morris International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. 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. 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of Philip Morris International stock traded up $6.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $162.21. 10,578,322 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,490,962. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.97, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $163.04.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total transaction of $5,954,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 547,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at $81,495,308.62. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.