Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases 624 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 10.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,600 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 624 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in Philip Morris International by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 5,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of 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 during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.3% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,412,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Bluesphere Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. 78.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 178,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,205,859.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company 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 given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.22.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $101.42. 1,647,837 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,800,795. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.04. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.23 and a 1-year high of $104.90. The firm has a market cap of $157.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $8.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.58% and a negative return on equity of 113.26%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 21st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.13%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.