Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,630,246 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,630,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $137,536,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Altria Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,206,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Altria Group Trading Up 1.4 %

MO traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $57.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,642,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,024,153. The stock has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.10. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $58.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its 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 negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.06%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on 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 raised Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company 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 given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.