Optimist Retirement Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,109 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,892 shares during the quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 684.4% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 64.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 250.0% in the first quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.05.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $120.96 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.25. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.23 and a fifty-two week high of $128.22. The company has a market cap of $188.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.02. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.32% and a net margin of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Philip Morris International’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total transaction of $1,038,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,877,305.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total value of $2,260,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,906,095.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total transaction of $1,038,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.