Empower Advisory Group LLC Trims Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,111 shares of the company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PM. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Philip Morris International by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,050,000 after buying an additional 1,856,551 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 60,217,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,517,085,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800,864 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 111,247,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,192,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684,992 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE:PM opened at $128.20 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $134.15. The company has a market capitalization of $199.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.11.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.