Arizona State Retirement System Buys 5,121 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 450,850 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,121 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $54,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 4,999 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 504.9% during the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 19,127 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3,553.3% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 206,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,125,000 after buying an additional 201,294 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after acquiring an additional 16,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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 note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 3.0 %

Philip Morris International stock opened at $153.98 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $159.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $134.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.43. The firm has a market cap of $239.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Philip Morris International news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total transaction of $5,954,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 547,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,495,308.62. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total transaction of $6,058,245.58. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 561,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. This represents a 6.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 128,143 shares of company stock valued at $19,092,846. 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.