Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 64.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,389 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,869 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth $34,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MO opened at $58.97 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $99.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.31. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

About Altria Group

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.