Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC Acquires 6,216 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,874 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,216 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock worth $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock worth $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.5% in 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. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Altria Group by 19.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,916,000 after buying an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company's stock worth $178,563,000 after buying an additional 39,341 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.68 on Friday, reaching $55.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,815,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,319,094. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a PE ratio of 8.40, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.61 and a 200-day moving average of $52.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to 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.