First Merchants Corp Has $1.46 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First Merchants Corp raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 56.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,983 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,058 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $200,000. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 531,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,128,000 after buying an additional 24,039 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 21,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 67,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 58,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $53.71 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The firm has a market cap of $91.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.20, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.90 and its 200-day moving average is $52.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its 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 negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group 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.