Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,232,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,310,000 after buying an additional 197,945 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,563,000 after buying an additional 39,341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $54.86 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $92.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.83.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.44%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MO. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.