Philip Morris International Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:PM)

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 153,116 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,361% compared to the typical daily volume of 10,478 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 5,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 153,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,587,000 after purchasing an additional 30,177 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 178,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,123,000 after purchasing an additional 3,288 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Philip Morris International by 6.0% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 11,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,157,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 27.0% during the second quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 3,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $122.91 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $134.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $128.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.96. The company has a market capitalization of $191.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th 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 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

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.