Prospera Financial Services Inc Grows Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 15.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,649 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,210 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.6% during the third quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 4.2% during the third quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.7% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 12,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the second quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.3% during the third quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $819,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE:PM opened at $130.39 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.27. The firm has a market cap of $202.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.54. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PM. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.50.

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.