Versant Capital Management Inc Purchases 663 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 68.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,631 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 17.6% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 25.0% during the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 399.6% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 747,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,708,000 after purchasing an additional 35,848 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In related news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:PM opened at $122.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $189.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.76. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. Philip Morris International’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.43%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.71%.

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.