Scotia Capital Inc. Sells 1,791 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

Scotia Capital Inc. lessened its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,877 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,791 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $8,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PM. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $177.00 to $166.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Philip Morris International and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $180.00 target price on Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.00.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.5%

PM opened at $157.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $244.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.43. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.12 and a twelve month high of $186.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $155.69 and a 200-day moving average of $166.81.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 106.52%.

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.