Sunbelt Securities Inc. Grows Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 24.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,077 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,009 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 5,006.0% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,958,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,908,000 after purchasing an additional 5,841,696 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.1% in the fourth 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 acquired a new position in Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth about $282,785,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 79.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,878,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,634,000 after acquiring an additional 2,599,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 5,045.1% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,122,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,472 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PM stock opened at $120.58 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.23 and a 52 week high of $128.22. The company has a market cap of $187.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.10.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.47%.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PM. Barclays upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.68.

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.