Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $127.85.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of PM stock opened at $123.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $124.13 and a 200 day moving average of $112.11. The stock has a market cap of $192.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.54. Philip Morris International has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $134.15.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Philip Morris International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PM. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 1.6% during the third quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Philip Morris International by 4.2% during the third quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 0.7% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 12,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the second quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Wealth Services LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 1.3% during the third quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $819,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

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.