Park Avenue Securities LLC Boosts Holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 108,884 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,058 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $17,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 56,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,828,000 after purchasing an additional 10,703 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 94,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,364,000 after purchasing an additional 9,789 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 80.9% in the 4th quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 3,425 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the period. Finally, Symmetry Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter worth about $1,966,000. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised shares of Philip Morris International from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $130.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $168.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Philip Morris International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.30.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

NYSE:PM opened at $181.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $282.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.52. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.93 and a fifty-two week high of $183.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.58.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.08. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 7.89% and a negative return on equity of 120.08%. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current 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.