Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Boosts Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,303 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Range Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 504.9% during the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 19,127 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,134,000 after acquiring an additional 16,035 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 53,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,485,000 after purchasing an additional 18,183 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 337,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,572,000 after purchasing an additional 20,390 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at $3,117,354.12. This represents a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,103,610.88. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Philip Morris International stock opened at $170.19 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $94.42 and a one year high of $171.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $155.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.10 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PM shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.00.

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.