Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Grows Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,894 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 129 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Whale Capital LLP grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 410,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,841,000 after buying an additional 5,551 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 3rd quarter worth about $356,000. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 24,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,015,000 after buying an additional 3,332 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 322,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,208,000 after buying an additional 52,692 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 9,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PM. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE:PM opened at $131.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $125.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. Philip Morris International’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % 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, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.