4,515 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Purchased by Rockland Trust Co.

Rockland Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 12,320 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Altria Group by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,418,074 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,441,000 after purchasing an additional 523,146 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 70,826 shares of the company's stock worth $3,703,000 after purchasing an additional 20,309 shares in the last quarter. First Merchants Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 56.1% in the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 27,983 shares of the company's stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 10,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthCare Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $59.74. 10,168,742 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,645,111. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.83 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.11.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

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.