Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $21.83 Million Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 215,475 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,675 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $21,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.7% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 12,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 6,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 28,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,930,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.05.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

PM opened at $120.79 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.57. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.23 and a 1 year high of $128.22. The company has a market capitalization of $187.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total transaction of $2,260,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,906,095.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 158,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the business’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 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 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.