Philip Morris International Inc. $PM Stock: Kestra Advisory Services LLC Grows Position

Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 372,905 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,991 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $71,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 108,039,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,545,430,000 after purchasing an additional 444,449 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,569,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,134,454,000 after purchasing an additional 536,968 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,220,008,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,506,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,167,041,000 after purchasing an additional 650,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter worth $3,075,267,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $201.26 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.35 and a 1-year high of $214.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $195.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.34.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.32 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.73% and a negative return on equity of 183.96%. Philip Morris International’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.24 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 26th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 2nd. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $205.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.40.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE:PM) is a global tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. It was established as an independent company in 2008 following the separation of Philip Morris International from Altria Group. The company develops, manufactures and markets tobacco, nicotine and other related consumer products primarily outside the United States.

Its portfolio includes internationally recognized cigarette brands such as Marlboro, Parliament, L&M, Chesterfield and Bond Street.