GWN Securities Inc. Makes New $1.52 Million Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

GWN Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MOFree Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 29,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,678,000 after purchasing an additional 93,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,232,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,310,000 after purchasing an additional 197,945 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Read Our Latest Research Report on MO

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $58.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $53.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.31. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.65 and a 1-year high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MOGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Altria Group Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Altria Group (NYSE:MO)

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