Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,600 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,900 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $10,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PM. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company's stock worth $6,715,237,000 after buying an additional 224,840 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,560,752,000 after acquiring an additional 376,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,363,454 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.35.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PM traded up $1.96 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $149.94. 5,268,277 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,523,627. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $150.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. The business's fifty day moving average is $126.34 and its 200-day moving average is $124.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.24% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.