Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 853,836 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,864 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.06% of Philip Morris International worth $80,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 30.2% during the third quarter. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in Philip Morris International by 29.5% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 3,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 38.4% during the third quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 3,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 2.9% during the third quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 7,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV raised its position in Philip Morris International by 3.8% during the third quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 2,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Philip Morris International stock traded down $1.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $95.02. 5,391,012 shares of the company were exchanged, 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 company has a market capitalization of $147.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.18.

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

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.47%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PM. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on 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 report on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Societe Generale raised Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price objective on the stock in a report 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of Philip Morris International 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 sale, the insider now owns 102,918 shares in the company, valued at $9,412,880.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $457,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,250 shares of company stock worth $3,339,528. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.