WCM Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 29,883 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 29,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,586,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PM. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,715,237,000 after acquiring an additional 224,840 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,818,000 after purchasing an additional 621,034 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721,094 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,752,000 after purchasing an additional 376,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,241,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,932,000 after buying an additional 3,363,454 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PM. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.35.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PM opened at $144.40 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $224.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.97. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.82 and a 52 week high of $146.78.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.24% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. On average, analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.73%.

Philip Morris International 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.