Aviance Capital Partners LLC Sells 477 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 8.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,853 shares of the company’s stock after selling 477 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PM. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Philip Morris International by 283.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,186,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,583,000 after purchasing an additional 876,790 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 13,416 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at $1,251,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at $857,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at $137,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PM shares. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Philip Morris International stock traded up $1.30 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $102.63. 399,678 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,461,429. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $100.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.58. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.23 and a 1 year high of $104.90.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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 negative return on equity of 113.26% and a net margin of 8.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 21st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 21st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.07%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.56%.

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.