Short Interest in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Expands By 33.9%

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,590,000 shares, a growth of 33.9% from the January 31st total of 7,160,000 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $158.78 on Tuesday. Philip Morris International has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $158.85. The company has a market capitalization of $246.88 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $133.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.18.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 128,143 shares of company stock valued at $19,092,846. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Philip Morris International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 40.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,866,678,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092,558 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $522,214,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 372.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,453,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,303,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298,530 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 122,584,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,752,926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,216,586 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

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.