Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Raises Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 22.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,592 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company's stock worth $2,812,649,000 after buying an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth $522,214,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 57.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company's stock worth $1,121,932,000 after buying an additional 3,363,454 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company's stock worth $1,934,083,000 after buying an additional 2,785,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 161.6% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company's stock worth $235,936,000 after buying an additional 1,200,636 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total transaction of $5,954,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 547,426 shares in the company, valued at $81,495,308.62. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now owns 561,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. This trade represents a 6.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585 in the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PM shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.56.

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Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.6 %

PM opened at $151.23 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $137.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.73. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $159.51. The firm has a market cap of $235.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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