Ninety One North America Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Ninety One North America Inc. lowered its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 603,973 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,011 shares during the period. Philip Morris International makes up about 2.8% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $56,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 43,512,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,403,883,000 after acquiring an additional 411,358 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,821,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,575,742,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121,732 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,147,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,587,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,089 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,050,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,355,000 after purchasing an additional 260,832 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 100,700.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,640,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,582,939,000 after purchasing an additional 15,624,628 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Societe Generale upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.40.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,411,128. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PM traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $90.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,483,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,440,818. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $91.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.61. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.23 and a 1-year high of $101.92.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.08). Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 116.29%. The firm had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.59%.

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.