Avalon Investment & Advisory Boosts Stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Avalon Investment & Advisory grew its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,340 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Avalon Investment & Advisory’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $17,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 19,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,940,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 5,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LCM Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 2,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Philip Morris International from $113.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. 22nd Century Group reaffirmed a “reiterates” rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised Philip Morris International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $109.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.70.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $93.67. The stock had a trading volume of 4,132,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,833,366. The firm has a market cap of $145.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.18. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.85 and a 12-month high of $105.62.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 127.84% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.