Cohen Klingenstein LLC Has $2.68 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cohen Klingenstein LLC reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,203 shares of the company’s stock after selling 245 shares during the period. Cohen Klingenstein LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 163.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 31,568 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 387.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 350,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,956,000 after buying an additional 278,500 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its stake in Altria Group by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 25,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 9,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 16.4% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 189,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,620,000 after purchasing an additional 26,597 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

MO stock opened at $51.92 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.91. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

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.