Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Increases Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 34.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,066 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,795 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,147,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,587,542,000 after buying an additional 4,304,089 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 worth $2,575,742,000 after buying an additional 3,121,732 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,940,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,368,000 after buying an additional 1,372,520 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 3,110,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,956,000 after buying an additional 1,066,871 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,841,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,246,000 after buying an additional 958,894 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Societe Generale raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.7 %

PM traded down $0.66 on Tuesday, reaching $94.94. The company had a trading volume of 6,414,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,754,313. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.23 and a 1 year high of $100.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $92.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.22.

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

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total transaction of $1,928,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total transaction of $1,928,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at $882,050.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,339,528 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.