Prudential Financial Inc. Increases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 49.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,317,662 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,096,205 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.20% of Altria Group worth $173,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,205 shares of the company's stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 25,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,128,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $163,604,000 after purchasing an additional 331,747 shares in the last quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,270 shares of the company's stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Finally, Blueprint Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 115.5% during the 4th quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,115 shares of the company's stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 7,030 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

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Altria Group Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE MO traded up $1.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.79. The company had a trading volume of 5,619,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,491,565. The company's fifty day moving average is $54.66 and its 200-day moving average is $53.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.65 and a one year high of $59.67. The company has a market cap of $97.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.06%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.