Kitching Partners LLC Takes $253,000 Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Kitching Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000. Philip Morris International accounts for approximately 0.3% of Kitching Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,866,678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092,558 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at about $522,214,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 372.2% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,453,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,303,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298,530 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,286,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,241,837,000 after acquiring an additional 3,185,258 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:PM opened at $170.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $265.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.39. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.42 and a 52 week high of $171.63.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.08. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. Philip Morris International’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 111.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,103,610.88. This trade represents a 12.06 % 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, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 90 days, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.