Blue Chip Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Blue Chip Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 168,174 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,569 shares during the period. Philip Morris International makes up approximately 1.7% of Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $15,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 158.0% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:PM traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.02. The company had a trading volume of 5,391,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,541,754. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.23 and a 52 week high of $100.79. The firm has a market cap of $147.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.18.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.83% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,050.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,250 shares of company stock worth $3,339,528 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Societe Generale raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.50.

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.