WINTON GROUP Ltd Sells 8,950 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

WINTON GROUP Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 77.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,629 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,950 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 283.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,186,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,583,000 after buying an additional 876,790 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,634,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after buying an additional 6,974 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at $857,000. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 54,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,087,000 after acquiring an additional 26,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total value of $2,260,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total value of $2,260,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total value of $1,038,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 85,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,877,305.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Philip Morris International stock opened at $120.96 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $117.57 and its 200 day moving average is $104.25. The firm has a market cap of $188.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.55. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.23 and a one year high of $128.22.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.32% and a net margin of 9.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 105.47%.

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.