Phoenix Financial Ltd. Sells 6,259 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. has reduced its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. by 31.6%, selling 6,259 shares during the second quarter, leaving them with 13,519 shares valued at approximately $2,468,000.
• Major institutional investors like WCM Investment Management LLC and Wellington Management have significantly increased their stakes in Philip Morris, with WCM adding over 11 million shares and Wellington boosting theirs by 26.4%.
• Philip Morris International has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.47 per share, reflecting a strong annualized dividend yield of 3.9%, despite a payout ratio above 100%.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. cut its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 31.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,519 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,259 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 24,968.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 11,230,626 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 1st quarter worth $1,712,994,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,840,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,466,730,000 after purchasing an additional 4,563,632 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,794,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,554,686,000 after acquiring an additional 3,575,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 22.2% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,018,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,431,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635,636 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $186.00 target price on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.44.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 3.9%

PM opened at $151.92 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $162.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.80. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.12 and a 1-year high of $186.69. The stock has a market cap of $236.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from Philip Morris International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is currently 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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