Cooke & Bieler LP Increases Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,536,843 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,002 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 0.10% of Philip Morris International worth $144,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 100,700.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,640,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,582,939,000 after acquiring an additional 15,624,628 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,147,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,587,542,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304,089 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,821,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,575,742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121,732 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,632,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,446,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,940,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total value of $457,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at $9,412,880.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total value of $457,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at $9,412,880.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 worth $1,411,128 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM stock opened at $93.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $145.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.61. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.23 and a 1-year high of $100.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.04.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 116.29% and a net margin of 8.53%. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.55%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 103.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PM. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note 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 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. One investment 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.40.

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.