South Plains Financial Inc. Makes New $50,000 Investment in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.7 %

PM opened at $170.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.71, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $156.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.96. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.88 and a 12-month high of $172.03.

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

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 111.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value 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. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total value of $5,954,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 547,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,495,308.62. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 price objective (up previously from $156.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Argus upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.00.

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.