Proficio Capital Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 60.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,863 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 2,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Detalus Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM stock opened at $151.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $235.81 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $143.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.40. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on PM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Yann Guerin sold 2,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.28, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,584,994.24. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.67, for a total value of $1,486,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 106,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,795,295.48. The trade was a 8.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,585. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.