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

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 8.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 210,703 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,094 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $21,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $545,908,000 after acquiring an additional 5,841,696 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $5,495,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,869,272 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $282,785,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 79.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,878,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,634,000 after buying an additional 2,599,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Philip Morris International by 5,045.1% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,122,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,484,000 after buying an additional 2,081,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,038,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 85,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction 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 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. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

PM stock opened at $121.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $188.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $118.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.97. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.23 and a one year 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. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.41% and a negative return on equity of 113.32%. The business had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.45 EPS 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. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.05.

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.