Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Acquired by Global Retirement Partners LLC

Key Points

• Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its Altria stake by 74.3% in the fourth quarter, adding 39,143 shares to bring its total holdings to 91,806 shares valued at about $5.3 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on Altria remains mixed: analysts have an average “Hold” rating with a consensus target price of $69.33, even as several firms raised price targets and one cut the stock to hold.
• Altria reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $1.32 and revenue of $4.76 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 5.8%.

Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 74.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,806 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,143 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,282,143,000 after acquiring an additional 1,903,530 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,567,823 shares of the company's stock worth $1,285,575,000 after buying an additional 3,172,753 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,705,159 shares of the company's stock worth $1,103,543,000 after buying an additional 59,189 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,747,828 shares of the company's stock worth $842,122,000 after buying an additional 132,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,131,644 shares of the company's stock worth $801,412,000 after buying an additional 47,757 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $73.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $122.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $67.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.43. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.70 and a 1 year high of $74.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.34% and a negative return on equity of 298.69%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 88.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $1,885,743.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc NYSE: MO is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company's operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria's principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.