Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 91,051 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,563 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $14,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PM. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.3% in the first quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. now owns 2,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PM shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $182.00 price target (up from $156.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.80.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $183.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $285.21 billion, a PE ratio of 40.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.82. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.93 and a 12-month high of $186.69.

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

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 111.34%.

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.