Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $721,000 Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC cut its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,669 shares of the company’s stock after selling 561 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $721,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PM. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 26,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,456,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 8,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PM shares. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Societe Generale raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.40.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $91.59 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.23 and a 52-week high of $101.92. The company has a market capitalization of $142.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $91.53 and a 200-day moving average of $92.47.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.08). Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 116.29% and a net margin of 8.53%. The firm had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. Philip Morris International’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 103.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 102,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,412,880.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,050.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,411,128 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.