Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 208,129 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 156,816,438 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 208,129 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Altria Group worth $8,199,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $2,183,000. Nwam LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 16.8% during the third quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 13,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 151,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,747,000 after acquiring an additional 4,179 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 14.6% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 422,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,553,000 after acquiring an additional 53,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.1% during the third quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 15,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded 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. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Altria Group stock opened at $57.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $54.42 and its 200 day moving average is $53.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.