Banco Santander S.A. Grows Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Banco Santander S.A. raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 34.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,245 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,434 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $12,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 2,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Detalus Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PM. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares in the company, valued at $4,103,610.88. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $749,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. This trade represents a 19.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $151.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $234.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $159.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.00.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 7.89%. On average, research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 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.