Cooke & Bieler LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

Cooke & Bieler LP cut its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 99.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,612 shares of the company’s stock after selling 865,161 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 142,857,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,018,555,000 after acquiring an additional 2,235,380 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Philip Morris International by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,831,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,243,429,000 after purchasing an additional 871,165 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,181,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,760,346,000 after purchasing an additional 672,983 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 24,968.0% during the 2nd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 11,275,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,041,223,000 after purchasing an additional 11,230,626 shares during the period. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 10,676,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,944,585,000 after purchasing an additional 782,536 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on PM. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Philip Morris International from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $173.06 on Monday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.53 and a 52-week high of $186.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.22 and a 200 day moving average of $161.37. The company has a market capitalization of $269.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.40.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 106.52%.

Philip Morris International Profile

Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE: PM) is a global tobacco company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, other nicotine-containing products and a growing portfolio of smoke-free alternatives for adult smokers. The firm traces its corporate roots to the 19th century Philip Morris enterprise and was established as an independent, publicly traded company following a 2008 separation from what is now Altria. Since the spin-off, the company has focused on serving international markets outside the United States.

PMI’s product mix includes traditional combustible cigarettes as well as smoke-free offerings such as heated tobacco systems and other reduced-risk products.