Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,080 shares of the company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in 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 worth $111,583,000 after acquiring an additional 876,790 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Philip Morris International by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 603,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,772,000 after purchasing an additional 13,416 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,251,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at about $857,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter worth about $137,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PM. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock 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 given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.22.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 2.0 %

PM opened at $101.90 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.69. The company has a market capitalization of $158.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.57. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.23 and a 12-month high of $104.90.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Philip Morris International’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.10%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 101.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was 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 owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.