Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,582 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,106 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. grew its position in Philip Morris International by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 2,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc grew its position in Philip Morris International by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc now owns 199,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,490,000 after buying an additional 15,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 62,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,750,000 after buying an additional 13,668 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Societe Generale upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $87.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group lowered shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.50.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PM traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $97.51. 3,960,335 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,724,651. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $92.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.38. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.23 and a twelve month high of $100.70. The stock has a market cap of $151.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.60.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.58% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The firm had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.33%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total value of $181,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at $882,050.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total transaction of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total value of $181,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $882,050.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,339,528 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.