Erste Asset Management GmbH Reduces Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

Erste Asset Management GmbH decreased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 387,737 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,317 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $63,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 142,857,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,018,555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235,380 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 69.0% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,512,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,826,000 after buying an additional 1,842,754 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 88.9% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,138,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,415,000 after buying an additional 1,006,014 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 142.2% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,512,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,474,000 after buying an additional 888,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,831,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,243,429,000 after buying an additional 871,165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.50 target price on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.83.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 33,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.61, for a total transaction of $6,138,418.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 164,463 shares in the company, valued at $29,868,125.43. This represents a 17.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.18, for a total transaction of $14,574,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,344 shares in the company, valued at $115,200,429.92. This represents a 11.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $187.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $291.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.39. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.11 and a 1 year high of $191.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $173.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.67.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.70. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 130.95% and a net margin of 12.09%.The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Philip Morris International’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Philip Morris International has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.800-1.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.380-8.530 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.88%.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE: PM) is a global tobacco company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, other nicotine-containing products and a growing portfolio of smoke-free alternatives for adult smokers. The firm traces its corporate roots to the 19th century Philip Morris enterprise and was established as an independent, publicly traded company following a 2008 separation from what is now Altria. Since the spin-off, the company has focused on serving international markets outside the United States.

PMI’s product mix includes traditional combustible cigarettes as well as smoke-free offerings such as heated tobacco systems and other reduced-risk products.