Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Purchases Shares of 1,851 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company's stock worth $5,866,678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092,558 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 19,986.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,486,928 shares of the company's stock worth $712,210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,464,590 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at about $522,214,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 372.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,453,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $656,303,000 after buying an additional 4,298,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 122,584,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,752,926,000 after buying an additional 4,216,586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $182.00 target price (up from $156.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group raised Philip Morris International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Argus upgraded Philip Morris International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.80.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $182.57. 9,351,559 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,643,316. The company's 50 day moving average price is $173.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.64, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $98.93 and a one year high of $186.69.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.08. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 122.40% and a net margin of 8.43%. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.34%.

Philip Morris International Company 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.