Beck Mack & Oliver LLC Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 225.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,890 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,925 shares during the quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Altria Group Trading Down 1.2 %

MO stock traded down $0.72 on Wednesday, hitting $58.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,052,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,877,786. The stock has a market cap of $98.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $56.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.39. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $42.40 and a 1 year high of $60.18.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (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, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.02%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

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.