Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,190,556 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,922 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $114,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $963,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 20.7% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 730,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,286,000 after acquiring an additional 125,076 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in Altria Group by 90.8% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 112,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,746,000 after acquiring an additional 53,567 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $32,206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 3.2 %

MO opened at $56.05 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.78. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.65 and a 52 week high of $60.18. The firm has a market cap of $94.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

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.