Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Buys 869 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,635 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PM. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Philip Morris International by 504.9% during the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 19,127 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 100,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,134,000 after buying an additional 16,035 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after buying an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Philip Morris International by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 53,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,485,000 after buying an additional 18,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 337,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,572,000 after acquiring an additional 20,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PM. Argus raised Philip Morris International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Philip Morris International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.56.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

PM opened at $154.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $239.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $144.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.75. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $159.51.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.06. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Lars Dahlgren sold 3,679 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.96, for a total transaction of $562,739.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,103,610.88. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total transaction of $749,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,117,354.12. The trade was a 19.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,822 shares of company stock worth $19,655,585 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company 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.