Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) Price Target Increased to $115.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) had its target price increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $108.00 to $115.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on PM. UBS Group lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Societe Generale upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $87.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Argus reiterated a hold rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $105.50.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of PM opened at $99.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $91.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61. Philip Morris International has a 1-year low of $87.23 and a 1-year high of $100.79.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.83% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.25%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $882,050.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,412,880.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,411,128 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Philip Morris International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the first quarter worth $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter worth $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.