Lincoln National Corp Grows Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Lincoln National Corp raised its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,210 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 968 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $3,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 603,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,772,000 after purchasing an additional 13,416 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at $1,251,000. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 147,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,655,000 after buying an additional 7,726 shares during the period. AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at $137,000. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 69.9% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 50,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 20,918 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Societe Generale raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group downgraded Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.63, for a total value of $772,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 94,629 shares in the company, valued at $8,860,113.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 8,250 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,860,113.27. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,205,859.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,339,528. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE:PM traded up $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $97.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,960,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,724,651. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.23 and a 12-month high of $100.70. The company has a market cap of $151.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $92.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.35.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.58% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.33%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.56%.

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.