New York Life Investment Management LLC Acquires 424 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 221,461 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $11,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. abrdn plc lifted its position in Altria Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 221,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,279,000 after purchasing an additional 7,366 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 48,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 7,262 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 54,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 87,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Altria Group stock opened at $55.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.85. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $93.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.41%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.