Blueprint Investment Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Blueprint Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 110.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,602 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,084 shares during the quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,715,237,000 after buying an additional 224,840 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,818,000 after acquiring an additional 621,034 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Philip Morris International by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,070,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,934,083,000 after buying an additional 2,785,987 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,422,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,615,449,000 after buying an additional 190,201 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of PM opened at $151.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $142.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.18. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $159.51. The firm has a market cap of $235.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. Equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.56.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $6,058,245.58. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,674,681.94. The trade was a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.