Duality Advisers LP Reduces Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Duality Advisers LP decreased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,623 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 3,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 112.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 11,534 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 101,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,505,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 3,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM stock opened at $97.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $151.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.10. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.23 and a 1-year high of $100.79.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its 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. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 116.29% and a net margin of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 103.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PM. Societe Generale raised 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. UBS Group downgraded Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total transaction of $772,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 94,629 shares in the company, valued at $8,860,113.27. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total value of $457,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total value of $772,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 94,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,860,113.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,250 shares of company stock worth $1,411,128. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.