Rhumbline Advisers Lowers Position in Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

Rhumbline Advisers cut its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,445,571 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61,345 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $445,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 24,968.0% during the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 11,275,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,041,223,000 after buying an additional 11,230,626 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 1st quarter worth about $1,712,994,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,840,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,466,730,000 after acquiring an additional 4,563,632 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 57.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,794,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,686,000 after acquiring an additional 3,575,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 142,857,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,018,555,000 after acquiring an additional 2,235,380 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. KGI Securities initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Philip Morris International from $177.00 to $166.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $175.00 price target on Philip Morris International and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.56.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

PM opened at $155.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $241.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $156.42 and its 200 day moving average is $167.34. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $116.12 and a fifty-two week high of $186.69.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 28th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 122.14% and a net margin of 9.33%.The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 3rd. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is currently 106.52%.

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.