Stephens Consulting LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Stephens Consulting LLC cut its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 20.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 307.5% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PM. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.22.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

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

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.2 %

PM stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $101.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,299,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,042,973. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.57. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.23 and a 52-week high of $104.90.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 21st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.13%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

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.