Philip Morris International Inc. $PM Shares Sold by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC reduced its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,915 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,206 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $4,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after buying an additional 2,023 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Philip Morris International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $238,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 12.6% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 8,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 596.3% in the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 130,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,778,000 after purchasing an additional 112,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PM. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Philip Morris International from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Barclays reduced their price target on Philip Morris International from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $175.00 price objective on Philip Morris International and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $180.00 target price on Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.00.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE PM opened at $147.87 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $154.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.24. The company has a market capitalization of $230.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.42. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.12 and a 1-year high of $186.69.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 28th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 122.14% and a net margin of 9.33%.The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 106.52%.

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.