MUFG Securities EMEA plc Acquires Shares of 54,000 Philip Morris International Inc. $PM

MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 54,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,835,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 140,621,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,320,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189,283 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,840,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,466,730,000 after buying an additional 4,563,632 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 24,968.0% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 11,275,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,041,223,000 after buying an additional 11,230,626 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International during the first quarter worth about $1,712,994,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 57.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,794,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,686,000 after acquiring an additional 3,575,158 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PM shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $175.00 target price on shares of Philip Morris International and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $180.00 target price on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.00.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $144.33 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $160.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.86. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $116.12 and a 1 year high of $186.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.46.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 28th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 9.33% and a negative return on equity of 122.14%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd were paid a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. This is a boost from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is 106.52%.

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.