Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 496,076 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. sold 496,076 shares of Philip Morris International, reducing its holdings by 27.5% to 1,305,072 shares.
• Philip Morris International reported $1.91 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.86, while revenue totaled $10.14 billion, slightly below analyst expectations.
• The company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts, with a projected price target of $186.27.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 27.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,305,072 shares of the company's stock after selling 496,076 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.08% of Philip Morris International worth $207,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Philip Morris International in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,712,994,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 19,986.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,486,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $712,210,000 after acquiring an additional 4,464,590 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 372.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,453,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $656,303,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298,530 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 122,584,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,752,926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,216,586 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PM. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. KGI Securities initiated coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Monday, August 4th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $170.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $186.27.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE PM traded down $2.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $165.69. 5,020,210 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,072,447. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $116.12 and a 12-month high of $186.69. The company has a market cap of $257.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.48. The business's fifty day moving average price is $175.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.05.

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

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is presently 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.