Maple Capital Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,696 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Maple Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,207,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 9,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. now owns 19,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 6,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 102,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,339,000 after purchasing an additional 22,621 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. The trade was a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 128,143 shares of company stock valued at $19,092,846. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $155.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $132.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.74. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.82 and a 52-week high of $158.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.73%.

Philip Morris International 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.