Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $1.51 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,428 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 672 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after buying an additional 840,559 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Altria Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,432,000 after purchasing an additional 42,490 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after buying an additional 722,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after buying an additional 1,038,408 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $43.64. 779,139 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,750,869. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $46.82. The company has a market cap of $74.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.49.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Company 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.