Symmetry Partners LLC Trims Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Symmetry Partners LLC cut its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,876 shares of the company’s stock after selling 657 shares during the period. Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,556,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,511,292,000 after acquiring an additional 481,636 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Philip Morris International by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 111,247,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,192,510,000 after buying an additional 1,684,992 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Philip Morris International by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 60,217,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,517,085,000 after buying an additional 1,800,864 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Philip Morris International by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,396,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,226,746,000 after buying an additional 125,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Philip Morris International by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,126,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,234,963,000 after buying an additional 77,820 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.80.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total transaction of $2,260,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.3 %

PM traded down $0.38 on Friday, reaching $115.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,502,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,393,593. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $106.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.84. The company has a market capitalization of $180.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.23 and a fifty-two week high of $119.06.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.02. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.32% and a net margin of 9.41%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 21st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 21st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.56%.

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.