Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Grows Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM – Free Report) by 34.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,121 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PM. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 624,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,261,000 after purchasing an additional 69,875 shares during the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 5,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 1,334 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 260,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,857,000 after buying an additional 20,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in Philip Morris International by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 340,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,225,000 after acquiring an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $126.24 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.54. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.82 and a 12-month high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.85.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Philip Morris International

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the completion of 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Philip Morris International

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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