Sepio Capital LP Lowers Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Sepio Capital LP reduced its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,648 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,072 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $4,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PM. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter valued at $206,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 437.9% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 183,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,292,000 after acquiring an additional 149,482 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 85.9% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,347,000 after purchasing an additional 20,350 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 15.9% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 281,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,164,000 after purchasing an additional 38,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 161.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,943,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,636 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 40,643 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 561,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,674,681.94. This trade represents a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 7.2 %

PM stock opened at $150.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $149.12 and a 200 day moving average of $133.27. The firm has a market cap of $234.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $163.08.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. On average, research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 119.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Argus raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine 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 $144.56.

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.