Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 95.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,709 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 139,432,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,780,688,000 after buying an additional 1,167,810 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 122,584,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,752,926,000 after buying an additional 4,216,586 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,866,678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092,558 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,286,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,241,837,000 after acquiring an additional 3,185,258 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,276,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,262,000 after acquiring an additional 516,617 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PM. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $205.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Friday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 price target (up previously from $156.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.80.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 1.8%

PM opened at $179.00 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.80 and a 52 week high of $186.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.23. The firm has a market cap of $278.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

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

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.