Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Trims Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lowered its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,668 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,531 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $3,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 139,432,392 shares of the company's stock worth $16,780,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,810 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 122,584,210 shares of the company's stock worth $14,752,926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,216,586 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company's stock worth $5,866,678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092,558 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,286,582 shares of the company's stock worth $4,241,837,000 after acquiring an additional 3,185,258 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Philip Morris International by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,276,790 shares of the company's stock worth $2,079,262,000 after buying an additional 516,617 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company's stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.6%

PM traded up $2.87 on Thursday, hitting $180.85. The company had a trading volume of 5,208,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,626,929. The company has a market cap of $281.50 billion, a PE ratio of 37.29, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.51. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.68 and a 12-month high of $186.69. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $177.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.73.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.08. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.43% and a negative return on equity of 122.40%. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PM shares. Argus raised shares of Philip Morris International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group raised shares of Philip Morris International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $185.73.

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.