FNY Investment Advisers LLC Has $2.46 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

FNY Investment Advisers LLC lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 74.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 135,500 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises approximately 1.3% of FNY Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. FNY Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after buying an additional 46,697 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 15.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after acquiring an additional 40,574 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.2% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after acquiring an additional 10,079 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after acquiring an additional 32,318 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $50.84 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.88. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.16 billion, a PE ratio of 8.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.