MML Investors Services LLC Increases Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 568,877 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,716 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $69,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PM. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 5,651 shares of the company's stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 8,362 shares of the company's stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 3,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 9,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 26,752 shares of the company's stock worth $2,711,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 95,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 1.5 %

PM traded down $1.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $130.56. The stock had a trading volume of 4,212,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,882,677. The company has a market capitalization of $203.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.53. The stock's 50 day moving average is $126.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.06. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Philip Morris International's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a $1.35 dividend. This is a boost from Philip Morris International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

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.