Philip Morris International Inc. $PM Shares Sold by Vestor Capital LLC

Vestor Capital LLC trimmed its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 93.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,038 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,579 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PM. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 108,039,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,545,430,000 after buying an additional 444,449 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,569,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,134,454,000 after acquiring an additional 536,968 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Philip Morris International in the 2nd quarter worth $8,220,008,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,506,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,167,041,000 after acquiring an additional 650,587 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,230,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,848,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,421 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PM. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $205.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Philip Morris International from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $213.90.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM opened at $194.31 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.35 and a 52 week high of $214.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $302.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.05.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 183.96% and a net margin of 10.73%. The firm had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 93.43%.

Philip Morris International Profile

Philip Morris International is a global tobacco and nicotine company that develops, manufactures and sells cigarettes and smoke-free products. Its cigarette brands include Marlboro in markets outside the United States, along with other regional and international brands. The company’s smoke-free portfolio includes IQOS heated tobacco products, ZYN nicotine pouches and VEEV e-vapor products. Philip Morris International sells its products in markets around the world, with availability varying by country and subject to local regulations.