Philip Morris International Inc. (PM): Fundsmith’s Latest Thoughts

Insider Monkey recently shared Fundsmith‘s 2018 Annual Letter, a copy of which you can track down here. Aside from reporting its 2018 annual return for its Fundsmith Equity Fund, which was 2.2%, the fund also shared its opinion on several stocks in its equity portfolio. Among them was Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), for which it said the following:

“Philip Morris was caught up in the noise and uncertainty which surrounds the new reduced-risk products —vaping and heat-not-burn technology—where Philip Morris has a market leading product in iQOS. I suspect we can tell that the company is on the right track not just in terms of introducing products which wean smokers off cigarettes and so make their consumption safer and give a new leg to its business but also by the number of regulators and commentators who oppose them.”

Copyright: jetcityimage / 123RF Stock Photo

Philip Morris International Inc. a cigarette and tobacco manufacturer, whose products reach more than 180 countries around the globe. Its most famous product is Marlboro. Year-to-date, the company’s stock gained 24.93%, having a closing price on May 14th of $84.09. Its market cap is of $130.82 billion, and it is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01.

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 48 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 17% from the second quarter of 2018. By comparison, 50 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in PM a year ago. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

Among these funds, Gardner Russo & Gardner held the most valuable stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), which was worth $669.2 million at the end of the third quarter. On the second spot was Cedar Rock Capital which amassed $618.6 million worth of shares. Moreover, Two Sigma Advisors, Diamond Hill Capital, and Ariel Investments were also bullish on Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.

Disclosure: None.

This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.