First Foundation Advisors Reduces Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

Key Points

• First Foundation Advisors reduced its stake in Philip Morris International by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 16,748 shares and leaving it with 92,059 shares worth about $14.77 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive: the stock has 10 Buy ratings and 2 Hold ratings, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.56, though some firms recently trimmed targets or downgraded the stock.
• Philip Morris beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $1.96 versus $1.83 expected and revenue of $10.15 billion, while also paying a $1.47 quarterly dividend for a 3.1% yield.

First Foundation Advisors cut its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,059 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,748 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors' holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $14,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the company's stock worth $2,437,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 26,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,309,000 after buying an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 3,507 shares of the company's stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. First National Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter worth $550,000. Finally, Freedom Day Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter worth $289,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $220.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $181.50 to $168.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.56.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 2.7%

NYSE:PM opened at $187.05 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.11 and a twelve month high of $191.30. The company has a market capitalization of $291.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $166.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.99.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.13. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 11.61% and a negative return on equity of 142.02%. The business had revenue of $10.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Philip Morris International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.510 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th were issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 19th. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is 82.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In related news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.18, for a total transaction of $14,574,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 632,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,200,429.92. This trade represents a 11.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 33,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.61, for a total transaction of $6,138,418.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 164,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,868,125.43. The trade was a 17.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc NYSE: PM is a global tobacco company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, other nicotine-containing products and a growing portfolio of smoke-free alternatives for adult smokers. The firm traces its corporate roots to the 19th century Philip Morris enterprise and was established as an independent, publicly traded company following a 2008 separation from what is now Altria. Since the spin-off, the company has focused on serving international markets outside the United States.

PMI's product mix includes traditional combustible cigarettes as well as smoke-free offerings such as heated tobacco systems and other reduced-risk products.

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