AXQ Capital LP Sells 5,703 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

AXQ Capital LP trimmed its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 54.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,684 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,703 shares during the quarter. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after buying an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $522,214,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,934,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,987 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 161.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,170,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,432,000 after purchasing an additional 969,198 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total value of $1,486,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 106,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,795,295.48. The trade was a 8.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $151.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.18. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $159.51. The firm has a market cap of $235.16 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.