Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 200 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,406 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $52.65 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $89.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.44.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued 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 of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

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.