Trust Co of the South Purchases Shares of 1,556 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Trust Co of the South bought a new position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,556 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 2,613 shares of the company's stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,531 shares of the company's stock worth $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 10,641 shares of the company's stock worth $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 129,876 shares of the company's stock worth $15,631,000 after acquiring an additional 10,284 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total value of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,103,610.88. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target 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 Friday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.20.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE PM traded up $2.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $180.74. The company had a trading volume of 8,505,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,626,797. The business's 50-day moving average is $165.26 and its 200-day moving average is $145.77. The stock has a market cap of $281.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.50. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.93 and a 52 week high of $181.36.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.10 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International's payout ratio is presently 111.34%.

Philip Morris International Company 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.