Philip Morris International Inc. $PM Shares Acquired by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Rakuten Investment Management increased its Philip Morris stake by 9.7% in the third quarter, adding 24,832 shares to hold 279,750 shares worth about $54.2 million.
• Philip Morris beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $2.36 versus $2.30 expected and revenue of $11.44 billion, up 5.5% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 per share, equivalent to a 3.1% yield. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $212.40.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 9.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 279,750 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,832 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $54,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 108,039,522 shares of the company's stock worth $19,545,430,000 after buying an additional 444,449 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,569,994 shares of the company's stock worth $10,134,454,000 after acquiring an additional 536,968 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,220,008,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,506,171 shares of the company's stock worth $3,167,041,000 after acquiring an additional 650,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Philip Morris International by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,230,669 shares of the company's stock worth $2,848,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,421 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of PM stock opened at $207.48 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.22 and a 1 year high of $214.35. The firm's 50 day moving average is $194.93 and its 200-day moving average is $182.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $323.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.34.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.73% and a negative return on equity of 183.96%. The business had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.24 earnings per share. Philip Morris International's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd were paid a $1.60 dividend. This is an increase from Philip Morris International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is 93.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PM. Barclays raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Argus increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Philip Morris International from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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