2,678 Philip Morris International Inc. $PM Shares Acquired by Victory Financial Group LLC

Victory Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,249 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,678 shares during the quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $2,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 108,039,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,545,430,000 after purchasing an additional 444,449 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Philip Morris International by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,569,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,134,454,000 after purchasing an additional 536,968 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,220,008,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 3.9% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,506,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,167,041,000 after purchasing an additional 650,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Philip Morris International during the second quarter worth $3,075,267,000. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on PM shares. Barclays raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Philip Morris International from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $193.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Philip Morris International from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.70.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

NYSE:PM opened at $202.82 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.26. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.11 and a 52 week high of $210.45.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.32 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.24 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 26th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 2nd. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47.

Philip Morris International Profile

Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE:PM) is a global tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. It was established as an independent company in 2008 following the separation of Philip Morris International from Altria Group. The company develops, manufactures and markets tobacco, nicotine and other related consumer products primarily outside the United States.

Its portfolio includes internationally recognized cigarette brands such as Marlboro, Parliament, L&M, Chesterfield and Bond Street.