Philip Morris International Inc. $PM Stock Purchased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. lifted its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 7.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 47,451 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,359 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $9,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 719 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Platt Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Platt Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2.2% during the third quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 2,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2.4% during the first quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $205.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.40.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $197.76 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $308.25 billion, a PE ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $195.56 and a 200 day moving average of $182.81. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.35 and a 12 month high of $214.35.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.32 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 183.96% and a net margin of 10.73%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 26th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 2nd. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 93.43%.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International is a global tobacco and nicotine company that develops, manufactures and sells cigarettes and smoke-free products. Its cigarette brands include Marlboro in markets outside the United States, along with other regional and international brands.

The company’s smoke-free portfolio includes IQOS heated tobacco products, ZYN nicotine pouches and VEEV e-vapor products. Philip Morris International sells its products in markets around the world, with availability varying by country and subject to local regulations.

Philip Morris International became an independent publicly traded company in 2008 after separating from Altria Group.