Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,050,747 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 130,053 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of Philip Morris International worth $370,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,006 shares of the company's stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 260,370 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,857,000 after purchasing an additional 20,108 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 7,544 shares of the company's stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 1,747,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,978,000 after purchasing an additional 157,272 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.85.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM traded down $0.33 on Tuesday, hitting $124.62. 1,634,557 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,384,363. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $134.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.81. The company has a market capitalization of $193.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. Philip Morris International's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This is an increase from Philip Morris International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International 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 value of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Philip Morris International Company 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.