Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Short Interest Up 21.7% in October

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,020,000 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the October 15th total of 8,230,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 5,380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were 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 approximately $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Philip Morris International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,556,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,511,292,000 after purchasing an additional 481,636 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 111,247,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,192,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684,992 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.1% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 60,217,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,517,085,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800,864 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,715,237,000 after acquiring an additional 224,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.85.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.3 %

PM traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $128.59. 9,055,777 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,415,458. Philip Morris International has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $134.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $124.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.21. The stock has a market cap of $199.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

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.