15,226 Shares in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Acquired by Meridian Wealth Management LLC

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 15,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,848,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 457.5% in the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 684.4% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 64.8% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 2,709.1% in 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 raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 57.4% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up previously from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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 lifted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.50.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $129.99 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.82 and a twelve month high of $134.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.62.

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 negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.