17,505 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Purchased by Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC

Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 17,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $915,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company's stock worth $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 318.5% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 51,856 shares of the company's stock worth $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 39,465 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 446.9% during the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 41,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 34,277 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,474,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $60.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.03. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.58 and a fifty-two week high of $60.64. The company has a market cap of $101.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.34%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.