Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 1,859 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,091 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,859 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $11,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. State Street Corp raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,715,237,000 after buying an additional 224,840 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,886,818,000 after buying an additional 621,034 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,752,000 after purchasing an additional 376,406 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.35.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.1 %

PM stock opened at $148.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $230.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.85, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.29. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $148.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 9.24%. As a group, analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.73%.

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.