Norden Group LLC Sells 26,440 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Norden Group LLC lowered its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 38.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,747 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,440 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $5,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,715,237,000 after buying an additional 224,840 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the third 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. FMR LLC grew 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 buying an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 21.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,752,000 after buying an additional 376,406 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total transaction of $1,486,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 106,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,795,295.48. This represents a 8.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 128,143 shares of company stock worth $19,092,846. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on PM. Barclays increased 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 note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.8 %

Philip Morris International stock opened at $155.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $241.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $158.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.81.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

About Philip Morris International

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.