Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires 92,513 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2.1%, acquiring an additional 92,513 shares, now totaling 4,431,644 shares worth approximately $703 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have also increased their stakes in Philip Morris, with Cortland Associates reporting a staggering 704.0% increase in their holdings during the first quarter.
• Analysts have upgraded their price targets for Philip Morris, with new estimates ranging from $181.00 to $190.00, suggesting a generally optimistic outlook for the stock.

Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,431,644 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 92,513 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Philip Morris International worth $703,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.3% during the first quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 83,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,207,000 after buying an additional 2,669 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,583,903 shares of the company's stock worth $568,873,000 after purchasing an additional 242,799 shares during the last quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 79.0% in the 1st quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the company's stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 2,354 shares during the period. Cortland Associates Inc. MO boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 704.0% during the 1st quarter. Cortland Associates Inc. MO now owns 142,950 shares of the company's stock worth $22,690,000 after purchasing an additional 125,171 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 439,082 shares of the company's stock worth $69,695,000 after purchasing an additional 87,631 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PM shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $170.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $186.27.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $166.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $258.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $174.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.55. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $116.12 and a fifty-two week high of $186.69.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.33 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 120.86%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is currently 102.66%.

About Philip Morris International

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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