Sharp Financial Services LLC Increases Position in Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

Sharp Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 22.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,306 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PM. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International in the first quarter worth about $1,712,994,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 26.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,840,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,466,730,000 after purchasing an additional 4,563,632 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 57.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,794,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,686,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575,158 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 22.2% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,018,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635,636 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 111.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,002,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580,368 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. KGI Securities began coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Monday, August 4th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $177.00 to $166.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.44.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 2.3%

NYSE:PM opened at $160.51 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $164.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.87. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $116.12 and a 52 week high of $186.69. The stock has a market cap of $249.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.46.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 28th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 120.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 111.79%.

Philip Morris International Company 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.