Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $16.13 Million Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 46.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,045 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,420 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $16,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 57.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,454 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,934,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,987 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 161.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,936,000 after buying an additional 1,200,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 14,611.4% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,173,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,554 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.22.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.1 %

PM stock opened at $156.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.81. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $156.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.06, for a total value of $6,058,245.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. This trade represents a 6.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,584,994.24. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 128,143 shares of company stock worth $19,092,846 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.