5 Best Fortune 500 Dividend Stocks to Buy Now

4. Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 56 

Dividend Yield as of October 18: 5.94%

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) operates as a tobacco company working to deliver a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. It is one of the top large cap stocks to invest in. On October 4, Philip Morris said that it was due to be granted unconditional antitrust approval by the European Union for its takeover of Swedish Match, a manufacturer in the product segments of cigars and lights. 

On July 19, Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett maintained a Hold rating on Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) stock and lowered the price target to $99 from $107, noting that the company’s Q2 results came in ahead of its prior guidance.

Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Florida-based investment firm GQG Partners is a leading shareholder in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), with 30 million shares worth more than $3 billion. 

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, Artisan Partners, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“On the positive side of the ledger, our top contributor was Swedish Match, a Swedish tobacco and nicotine products maker. The company received an all-cash takeover offer from rival Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), which we also held in the portfolio, for SEK 106 per share—a 35% premium to Swedish Match’s prior closing share price. The deal is a good fit for PM as it reduces PM’s dependence on cigarettes—a category in steady decline—and accelerates the company’s transition to smokeless “reduced-risk” products (RRPs)—a category that has experienced rapid growth over the past five years. PM can also leverage its global scale to generate significant revenue synergies from these complementary product sets, as well as quickly gain access to the US market—the world’s largest market for RRPs and one where regulators have embraced RRPs and other less harmful nicotine products. We exited our position in Swedish Match as shares approached the takeout price.”