Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Shares Bought by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 3.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 56,069 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $5,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Duality Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 165.6% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 38,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,541,000 after purchasing an additional 24,093 shares in the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 48.9% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 3,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 639,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,608,000 after purchasing an additional 45,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:PM traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $105.95. The stock had a trading volume of 3,518,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,378,927. The company has a market capitalization of $164.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $101.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.45. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.23 and a 1 year high of $106.63.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 21st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 21st. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.56%.

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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.22.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.42, for a total value of $1,928,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,205,859.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.