Bleakley Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,361 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,924 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 729.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in 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 period. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.0 %

Altria Group stock opened at $52.65 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on 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. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.