Philip Morris International Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:PM)

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 153,116 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,361% compared to the typical volume of 10,478 call options.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PM. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sachetta LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 64.8% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 457.5% in the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 203.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 240 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2,709.1% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

PM stock traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $122.91. 2,800,460 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,354,031. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $128.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.96. Philip Morris International has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Philip Morris International will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

About Philip Morris International

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.