Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 1,773 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,126 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,773 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 139,432,392 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,780,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,810 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 122,584,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,752,926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,216,586 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,866,678,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092,558 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,286,582 shares of the company's stock worth $4,241,837,000 after buying an additional 3,185,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 516,617 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus upgraded Philip Morris International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,117,354.12. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $163.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $154.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.65. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.84 and a twelve month high of $165.26.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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