Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Buys 3,701 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 41.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,730 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,701 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 5,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 1,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.3% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,412,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 29,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.22.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE:PM traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $101.61. 592,068 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,400,922. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.23 and a twelve month high of $104.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $100.46 and a 200 day moving average of $95.13. The stock has a market cap of $157.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 21st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 21st. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.56%.

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.