D Orazio & Associates Inc. Increases Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,538 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 684 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. PFS Partners LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 24.8% during the 2nd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 292 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the second quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2.5% during the first quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. now owns 2,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 6.5% in the second quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renasant Bank lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.3% in the first quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 1,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $177.00 to $166.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $180.00 price target on Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.00.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

PM stock opened at $155.55 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $157.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.09. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $116.12 and a 12 month high of $186.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.14 billion, a PE ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.43.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 28th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 122.14% and a net margin of 9.33%.The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were given a $1.47 dividend. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 3rd. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.52%.

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.