Level Four Advisory Services LLC Has $1.81 Million Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,037 shares of the company’s stock after selling 853 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 139,432,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,780,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,810 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,715,237,000 after purchasing an additional 224,840 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,866,678,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092,558 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,818,000 after buying an additional 621,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 21.0% during 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. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on 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, Argus raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,674,681.94. This represents a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $155.17 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $159.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $145.83 and its 200 day moving average is $132.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

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.