Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM)

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 11,935 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 48% compared to the typical volume of 8,065 call options.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM opened at $99.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $98.98 and its 200-day moving average is $94.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.57. Philip Morris International has a 12-month low of $87.23 and a 12-month high of $104.90.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.58% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 21st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 21st. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 5,006.0% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,958,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,908,000 after purchasing an additional 5,841,696 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,416,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,495,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,869,272 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 12.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,821,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,575,742,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121,732 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $282,785,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,439,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123,311 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 research firms have commented on PM. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.22.

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.