Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Takes $356,000 Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 16.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,551 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 10,655,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,079,767,000 after buying an additional 736,961 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Philip Morris International by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,430,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,957,000 after buying an additional 469,806 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 9,467,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,368,000 after acquiring an additional 86,667 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,932,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,454 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PM. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

PM opened at $132.28 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.30. The firm has a market cap of $205.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.54. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. Philip Morris International’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.71%.

Philip Morris International 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.