Savvy Advisors Inc. Has $1.23 Million Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 84.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,245 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,678 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 6,643,831 shares of the company's stock valued at $799,585,000 after buying an additional 540,434 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $770,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 676,624 shares of the company's stock worth $81,432,000 after purchasing an additional 7,465 shares during the period. Seeds Investor LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at $6,543,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus raised shares of Philip Morris International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.85, for a total transaction of $4,465,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 139,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,705,779.25. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 106,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,795,295.48. This trade represents a 8.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE PM traded up $2.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $163.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,543,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,595,825. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $153.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.92. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.38 and a 12 month high of $165.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. 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.