Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 2,361 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Merit Financial Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,361 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $5,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 5,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 1,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,412,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Bluesphere Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 29,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Societe Generale upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:PM traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $97.40. The company had a trading volume of 4,890,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,759,192. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.23 and a 52-week high of $100.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $92.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.28. The company has a market capitalization of $151.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.58% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The company had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.34%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,412,880.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total transaction of $1,928,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,205,859.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,339,528 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.