Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Lowers Position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,656 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,669 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,556,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,511,292,000 after purchasing an additional 481,636 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 111,247,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,192,510,000 after buying an additional 1,684,992 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 60,217,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,517,085,000 after buying an additional 1,800,864 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,234,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,050,000 after buying an additional 1,856,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 10,655,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,079,767,000 after acquiring an additional 736,961 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

PM stock opened at $128.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $199.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.11. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $134.15.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.09. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.