Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Advisory Services Network LLC

Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 174,410 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,022 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $9,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,931,015 shares of the company's stock worth $153,263,000 after buying an additional 792,523 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 708,749 shares of the company's stock worth $37,060,000 after acquiring an additional 14,774 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its position in Altria Group by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 77,677 shares of the company's stock worth $4,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Titleist Asset Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 10,723 shares of the company's stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Altria Group Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:MO traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.68. The company had a trading volume of 9,758,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,020,411. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.65 and a 1 year high of $60.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.00.

Altria Group 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.