Clarity Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Clarity Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,110 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the quarter. Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 684.4% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 64.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2,709.1% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 57.4% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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 note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.85.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

PM stock opened at $130.33 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.75. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $134.15. The company has a market capitalization of $202.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. The firm had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 118,418 shares of company stock valued at $15,247,052. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.