Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Has $5.26 Million Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,908 shares of the company’s stock after selling 276 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $5,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Philip Morris International by 9.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,126,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,849,000 after buying an additional 274,872 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Philip Morris International by 79.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,878,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,634,000 after buying an additional 2,599,684 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International during the second quarter worth approximately $2,550,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in Philip Morris International by 0.6% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 740,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,076,000 after buying an additional 4,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 12.0% during the second quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,919 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE PM opened at $125.62 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $116.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.64. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.23 and a fifty-two week high of $128.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.02. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.32% and a net margin of 9.41%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total transaction of $1,038,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,629 shares in the company, valued at $9,877,305.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total transaction of $2,260,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total value of $1,038,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 85,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,877,305.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.05.

About Philip Morris International

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.