Brown Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Brown Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PM. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 457.5% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 684.4% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 64.8% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 2,709.1% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM stock opened at $130.39 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $124.55 and a 200 day moving average of $114.27. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.82 and a 1-year high of $134.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Company 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.