Philip Morris International Inc. $PM Holdings Trimmed by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services cut its Philip Morris stake by 18% in the third quarter, selling 85,788 shares. It retained 389,530 shares valued at about $74.3 million.
• Philip Morris reported quarterly EPS of $2.36, beating estimates of $2.30, while revenue of $11.44 billion exceeded forecasts and rose 5.5% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 per share, equivalent to $6.40 annually and a 3.2% yield. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $212.40.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 18.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 389,530 shares of the company's stock after selling 85,788 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $74,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PM. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 9.9% in the third quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 620 shares of the company's stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 719 shares of the company's stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Platt Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Platt Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,833 shares of the company's stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 2,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company's stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM traded down $3.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $197.76. The company had a trading volume of 5,637,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,641,165. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.35 and a twelve month high of $214.35. The company has a market capitalization of $308.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.34. The company's 50-day moving average is $195.56 and its 200-day moving average is $182.81.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PM. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $205.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $193.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Philip Morris International from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.40.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

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.

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