Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Position Reduced by Smith Salley Wealth Management

Smith Salley Wealth Management lowered its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,212 shares of the company’s stock after selling 877 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PM. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 283.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,634,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 25.4% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,974 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth $857,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth $137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.80.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PM traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $123.29. 5,547,532 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,291,041. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.23 and a twelve month high of $123.45. The firm has a market cap of $191.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.08, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.75.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.02. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.32% and a net margin of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 21st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 21st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,906,095.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by 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.