Philip Morris International Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:PM)

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 114,602 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 999% compared to the typical volume of 10,426 call options.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 33,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.61, for a total value of $6,138,418.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 164,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,868,125.43. This trade represents a 17.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.18, for a total transaction of $14,574,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,200,429.92. This trade represents a 11.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Philip Morris International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PM. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 18,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on PM. Wall Street Zen lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $200.00 price objective on Philip Morris International in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.83.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of PM stock opened at $165.87 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $177.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.24. Philip Morris International has a 12-month low of $142.11 and a 12-month high of $191.30. The firm has a market cap of $258.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.38.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.70. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.40 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 130.95% and a net margin of 12.09%.The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Philip Morris International has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.800-1.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.380-8.530 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Philip Morris International will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 80.88%.

About Philip Morris International

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.