Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Graypoint LLC

Graypoint LLC grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,082 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the quarter. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. State Street Corp grew 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 valued at $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $50.84 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

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.