Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 524,653 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 67,117 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $27,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO traded up $0.62 on Wednesday, hitting $53.37. The stock had a trading volume of 6,666,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,281,626. The business's fifty day moving average price is $52.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $90.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.