Blankinship & Foster LLC Purchases Shares of 1,993 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 10,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,073,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,973,000 after buying an additional 24,267 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 88,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,289,000 after buying an additional 10,233 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Philip Morris International by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 708,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,648,000 after buying an additional 29,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $783,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $121.27 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.23 and a one year high of $128.22. The company has a market cap of $188.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.17.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 85,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,906,095.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PM shares. StockNews.com upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.05.

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.