Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Has $574,000 Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lowered its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 11.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 807 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 283.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,186,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,583,000 after buying an additional 876,790 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 603,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,772,000 after purchasing an additional 13,416 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,251,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $857,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.2 %

PM stock opened at $101.33 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.23 and a twelve month high of $104.90. The company has a market cap of $157.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $100.08 and its 200-day moving average is $94.93.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its 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. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.26% and a net margin of 8.58%. The firm had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 21st. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on PM. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.22.

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.