Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires 7,784 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 144.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,172 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,784 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PM. CWM LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 9.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 50,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,164,000 after purchasing an additional 4,363 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 5,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.4% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International in the second quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.7% in the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,915,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PM. Barclays raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM opened at $129.69 on Wednesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $134.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $126.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.41. The firm has a market cap of $201.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.53.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The firm had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

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.