Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Short Interest Up 33.9% in February

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,590,000 shares, a growth of 33.9% from the January 31st total of 7,160,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.85, for a total transaction of $4,465,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 139,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,705,779.25. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 128,143 shares of company stock worth $19,092,846 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Philip Morris International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PM. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $522,214,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 372.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,453,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,303,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position 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 during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PM shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of PM opened at $153.22 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $134.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.60. Philip Morris International has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $159.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Analysts predict that Philip Morris International will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. 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.