Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 84.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,247 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PM. Capital & Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 2,613 shares of the company's stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 24,458 shares of the company's stock worth $2,944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 65,613 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,896,000 after buying an additional 11,846 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,318,000 after buying an additional 5,219 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 4,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Philip Morris International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group upgraded Philip Morris International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $130.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.20.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:PM traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $175.23. 4,764,762 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,598,385. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.93 and a 52-week high of $176.49. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $161.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.13. The company has a market cap of $272.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.50.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.10 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.08% and a net margin of 7.89%. Philip Morris International's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total value of $562,739.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.