WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,067 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $3,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 5,006.0% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,958,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,908,000 after purchasing an additional 5,841,696 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,416,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,495,794,000 after buying an additional 4,869,272 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $282,785,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 79.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,878,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,634,000 after buying an additional 2,599,684 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 5,045.1% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,122,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 1.8 %

PM stock opened at $120.96 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $188.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.25. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.23 and a 52 week high of $128.22.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.32% and a net margin of 9.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 105.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.05.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total value of $2,260,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total value of $1,038,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 85,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total transaction of $2,260,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,906,095.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.