NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Decreases Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan cut its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,200 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,800 shares during the quarter. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan's holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $4,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 8,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $268,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,621 shares of the company's stock worth $804,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Lansing Street Advisors grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 4,180 shares of the company's stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 133.6% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 69,206 shares of the company's stock worth $8,402,000 after buying an additional 39,574 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PM. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total value of $1,486,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 106,244 shares in the company, valued at $15,795,295.48. The trade was a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 128,143 shares of company stock worth $19,092,846 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:PM traded down $0.08 on Thursday, reaching $153.06. 743,714 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,151,762. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The company's 50 day moving average is $134.82 and its 200-day moving average is $128.60. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

Philip Morris International 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.