Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Holdings Lifted by Parallel Advisors LLC

Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,652 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,325 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the third 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $32,206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.1 %

MO stock traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $57.46. 33,829,726 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,595,164. The company has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $59.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.47.

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Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.10%. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.29.

About Altria Group

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.