Plan Group Financial LLC Grows Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Plan Group Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,436 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,213 shares during the quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after buying an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,563,000 after buying an additional 39,341 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $52.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.65. The stock has a market cap of $89.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 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. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.74%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned 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.