Leavell Investment Management Inc. Has $1.73 Million Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,793 shares of the company’s stock after selling 712 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 48,746,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,866,678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092,558 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 19,986.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,486,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $712,210,000 after acquiring an additional 4,464,590 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 372.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,453,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,303,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298,530 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 122,584,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,752,926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,216,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,286,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,241,837,000 after purchasing an additional 3,185,258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.73.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $180.85 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.13. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.75 and a 12-month high of $186.69. The company has a market capitalization of $281.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.