Sutton Place Investors LLC Takes Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Sutton Place Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 115.0% in the first quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up from $205.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 target price (up from $156.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.80.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

PM opened at $179.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $278.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.59. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.80 and a fifty-two week high of $186.69.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.10 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.43% and a negative return on equity of 122.40%. Philip Morris International’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 111.34%.

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.