Wellington Management Group LLP Buys 4,563,632 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 26.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,840,422 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,563,632 shares during the quarter. Philip Morris International makes up approximately 0.7% of Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 1.40% of Philip Morris International worth $3,466,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,712,994,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 19,986.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,486,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $712,210,000 after buying an additional 4,464,590 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 372.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,453,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,303,000 after buying an additional 4,298,530 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 57.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,794,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,686,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575,158 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,468,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,987,716 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PM. KGI Securities began coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.27.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

NYSE:PM opened at $166.19 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $258.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.04. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $116.12 and a fifty-two week high of $186.69.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $10.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.33 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 120.86% and a net margin of 9.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. Research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 102.66%.

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.