Sowell Financial Services LLC Grows Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,584 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,280 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $5,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $3,886,818,000 after purchasing an additional 621,034 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,934,083,000 after buying an additional 2,785,987 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,422,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,615,449,000 after buying an additional 190,201 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PM traded down $0.87 on Wednesday, reaching $151.23. 5,179,671 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,205,821. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $159.51. The firm has a market cap of $235.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $137.92 and a 200-day moving average of $129.73.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is 119.73%.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total value of $562,739.84. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.