Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 2,361 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Merit Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,361 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $5,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 158.0% during the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, 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 sale, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, 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 sale, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $772,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 94,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,860,113.27. 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. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $97.40. 4,890,291 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,759,192. The firm has a market cap of $151.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.23 and a 52-week high of $100.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.28.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.26% and a net margin of 8.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.3 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.34%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on PM. UBS Group lowered 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. Societe Generale upgraded Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.50.

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.