Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,002 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PM. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 5,006.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,958,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,908,000 after buying an additional 5,841,696 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 79.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,878,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,634,000 after buying an additional 2,599,684 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 16.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,050,000 after buying an additional 1,856,551 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.1% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 60,217,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,517,085,000 after buying an additional 1,800,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 1.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 111,247,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,192,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,684,992 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM opened at $124.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $124.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.81. The company has a market capitalization of $193.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.54. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued 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 the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PM. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.85.

Philip Morris International 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.