Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Boosts Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,596 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 202 shares during the quarter. Philip Morris International makes up about 1.0% of Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $3,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 100,700.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,640,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,582,939,000 after acquiring an additional 15,624,628 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 31.7% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 9,036,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $878,834,000 after buying an additional 2,174,242 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the first quarter valued at approximately $201,779,000. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in Philip Morris International during the 1st quarter worth $150,424,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Philip Morris International by 122.0% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,632,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,294,000 after buying an additional 1,446,567 shares during the last quarter. 79.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:PM traded down $0.13 on Tuesday, hitting $96.83. The stock had a trading volume of 885,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,200,780. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $96.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.05. The stock has a market cap of $150.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.71. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $82.85 and a 1-year high of $105.62.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.10. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 127.84% and a net margin of 11.63%. The company had revenue of $8.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 27th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 98.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PM has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $113.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $109.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, 22nd Century Group restated a “reiterates” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.70.

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.