Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 2,448,223 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 99.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,448,223 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,669,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,111,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,755,662 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 67,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,775,000 after buying an additional 19,309 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Philip Morris International in the second quarter worth about $505,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 216,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,745,000 after buying an additional 7,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after buying an additional 2,023 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PM. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. BTIG Research set a $221.00 target price on Philip Morris International and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.89.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of PM stock opened at $182.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $188.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.82. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.11 and a 52 week high of $207.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.37.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $11.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.60 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 11.06% and a negative return on equity of 163.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Philip Morris International has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.25 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 8.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 25th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.48%.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE: PM) is a global tobacco company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, other nicotine-containing products and a growing portfolio of smoke-free alternatives for adult smokers. The firm traces its corporate roots to the 19th century Philip Morris enterprise and was established as an independent, publicly traded company following a 2008 separation from what is now Altria. Since the spin-off, the company has focused on serving international markets outside the United States.

PMI’s product mix includes traditional combustible cigarettes as well as smoke-free offerings such as heated tobacco systems and other reduced-risk products.