Van ECK Associates Corp Has $3.88 Million Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,257 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,544 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $3,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 603,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,772,000 after purchasing an additional 13,416 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,251,000. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 5.5% in the third quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 147,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,655,000 after purchasing an additional 7,726 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 50,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 20,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chiron Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the third quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC now owns 354,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,825,000 after purchasing an additional 6,981 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total value of $772,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 94,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,860,113.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,339,528 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $97.40 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.30. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.23 and a 1-year high of $100.70. The firm has a market cap of $151.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.60.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.26% and a net margin of 8.58%. The business had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Philip Morris International’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.34%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Societe Generale raised Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.50.

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.