Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Acquires Shares of 3,158 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Centiva Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 111.5% during the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 25,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after buying an additional 13,193 shares during the period. Coastwise Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.4% during the third quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 4,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 337.3% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,441,000 after buying an additional 34,565 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,569,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter valued at approximately $231,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total transaction of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,624,965.85. This represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total value of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE PM opened at $130.99 on Tuesday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.82 and a 12 month high of $134.15. The stock has a market cap of $203.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $125.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.99.

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

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is an increase from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

Philip Morris International 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.