Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Purchased by Bridgefront Capital LLC

Bridgefront Capital LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 87.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,797 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,178 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC's holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PM. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PM. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $182.00 price target (up previously from $156.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays boosted 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Argus raised Philip Morris International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $166.33.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM traded down $2.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $169.61. 4,733,416 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,558,927. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.79. The company has a market cap of $264.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.61, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.50. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.19 and a 1 year high of $176.49.

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

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is 111.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.87, for a total value of $5,954,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 547,426 shares in the company, valued at $81,495,308.62. The trade was a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.