Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Receives $144.56 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.56.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PM shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $151.71 on Monday. Philip Morris International has a 1 year low of $87.82 and a 1 year high of $163.08. The company has a market cap of $236.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $151.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.20.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Philip Morris International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PM. Range Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 504.9% in the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 19,127 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after buying an additional 16,035 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,912,000 after buying an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 53,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after buying an additional 18,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 337,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,572,000 after acquiring an additional 20,390 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

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.