Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Allworth Financial LP

Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 91.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 97,963 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,670 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP's holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 worth $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake 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 worth $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake 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 worth $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:MO traded up $0.68 on Friday, hitting $55.01. The stock had a trading volume of 8,815,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,319,094. The stock has a market cap of $93.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.70. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.42%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 62.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.