93,900 Shares in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 93,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,834,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company's stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.6 %

Philip Morris International stock traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $88.85. 5,517,312 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,638,078. The firm has a market cap of $138.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $91.19 and a 200 day moving average of $92.07. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.23 and a 12 month high of $101.92.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 116.29% and a net margin of 8.53%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.38 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.85%. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is currently 103.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Societe Generale upgraded Philip Morris International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $87.50 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group cut Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $105.40.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total value of $772,447.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 94,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,860,113.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,250 shares of company stock worth $1,411,128 over the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.