Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,339,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $522,214,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.28% of Philip Morris International at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 4,999 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 504.9% during the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 19,127 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3,553.3% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 206,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,125,000 after buying an additional 201,294 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,134,000 after buying an additional 16,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after buying an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total transaction of $5,954,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 547,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,495,308.62. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total transaction of $378,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares in the company, 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 128,143 shares of company stock valued at $19,092,846. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE PM opened at $153.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $238.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.60. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 119.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

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.