D.B. Root & Company LLC Purchases 6,562 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

D.B. Root & Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 246.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,227 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,562 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,416,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,495,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,869,272 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Philip Morris International by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,821,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,575,742,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121,732 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter valued at about $282,785,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,439,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,104,000 after buying an additional 2,123,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 216.1% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,691,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,227 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

NYSE PM traded down $0.24 on Friday, reaching $101.33. 7,299,472 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,042,973. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.94. The firm has a market cap of $157.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.57. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.23 and a fifty-two week high of $104.90.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.58% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The business had revenue of $8.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 21st. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PM shares. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.22.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total transaction of $1,928,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 178,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.