Philip Morris International Inc. $PM Stock Sold by Cortland Associates Inc. MO

Cortland Associates Inc. MO lowered its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 186,384 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,482 shares during the period. Philip Morris International accounts for about 5.2% of Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $35,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TSG Advice Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International during the third quarter valued at about $793,000. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 0.8% during the third quarter. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC now owns 42,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,049,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.9% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 21,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.2% in the third quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 2,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the third quarter worth about $497,000. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.70.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $208.34 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $194.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.14. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.11 and a 12-month high of $214.35. The company has a market cap of $324.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.34.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.32 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.73% and a negative return on equity of 183.96%. Philip Morris International’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd were paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.43%.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE:PM) is a global tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. It was established as an independent company in 2008 following the separation of Philip Morris International from Altria Group. The company develops, manufactures and markets tobacco, nicotine and other related consumer products primarily outside the United States.

Its portfolio includes internationally recognized cigarette brands such as Marlboro, Parliament, L&M, Chesterfield and Bond Street.