Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 24.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 114,164 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,110 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $18,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PM. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,866,678,000 after buying an additional 6,092,558 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 19,986.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,486,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $712,210,000 after acquiring an additional 4,464,590 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter valued at $522,214,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 372.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,453,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,303,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 122,584,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,752,926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,216,586 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total value of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,103,610.88. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.20.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM opened at $182.78 on Tuesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.93 and a fifty-two week high of $182.83. The company’s fifty day moving average is $165.83 and its 200 day moving average is $146.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.49 billion, a PE ratio of 40.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.50.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.08. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.34%.

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.