Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) Upgraded by Argus to "Buy" Rating

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Argus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

PM has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.56.

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Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE PM traded up $1.46 on Friday, hitting $151.95. 5,541,420 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,155,565. The company's 50 day moving average price is $139.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last released its 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 negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total value of $562,739.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 139,432,392 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,780,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,810 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $6,715,237,000 after purchasing an additional 224,840 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $4,241,837,000 after purchasing an additional 3,185,258 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.