Poplar Forest Capital LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 271,770 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110,128 shares during the quarter. Philip Morris International makes up about 3.7% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $25,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PM. Ziegler Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 27,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,513,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.0% in the third quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.8% in the third quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 6,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 97.4% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 13,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 8.0% in the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Societe Generale raised Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total transaction of $772,447.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 94,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,860,113.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related 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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $8,860,113.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,250 shares of company stock worth $1,411,128 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE PM traded up $1.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.03. 13,572,168 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,755,332. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.15. The stock has a market cap of $153.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.23 and a 12-month high of $100.79.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 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 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.59%.

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.