First City Capital Management Inc. Grows Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

First City Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,624 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the quarter. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PM. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 684.4% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sachetta LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 64.8% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 250.0% in the first quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 57.4% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PM. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.05.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.9 %

PM opened at $120.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $118.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.66. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.23 and a 12-month high of $128.22. The firm has a market cap of $187.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.19 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.41% and a negative return on equity of 113.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 105.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total value of $1,038,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 85,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.