Philip Morris International Inc. $PM Shares Sold by AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Philip Morris International by 20.4% in Q2, holding 12,725 shares valued at approximately $2.32 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in Philip Morris, with WCM Investment Management LLC notably boosting its holdings by 24,968% to 11.27 million shares.
• Philip Morris International declared a quarterly dividend increase to $1.47 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.8% and a high dividend payout ratio of 111.79%.

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 20.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,725 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,261 shares during the period. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 140,621,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,320,878,000 after buying an additional 1,189,283 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 26.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,840,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,466,730,000 after buying an additional 4,563,632 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 24,968.0% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 11,275,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,041,223,000 after buying an additional 11,230,626 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Philip Morris International in the first quarter valued at about $1,712,994,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 57.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,794,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,554,686,000 after buying an additional 3,575,158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $195.44.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $155.82 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.12 and a 1 year high of $186.69. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $163.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.73. The firm has a market cap of $242.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.46.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 28th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 120.86%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $1.47 dividend. This is a boost from Philip Morris International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.79%.

Philip Morris International 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.

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