Quarry LP Grows Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 79.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,586 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Quarry LP’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evoke Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 2,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 104,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 6,209 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 24,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,334,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,608,000 after acquiring an additional 6,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PM shares. StockNews.com upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.14.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $121.39 on Tuesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.23 and a 1-year high of $128.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $119.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.92. The company has a market capitalization of $188.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.47%.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

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 transaction of $2,260,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,906,095.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,877,305.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total value of $2,260,200.00. Following the sale, 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.

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.