Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,791 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 28,327 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Altria Group were worth $19,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock worth $466,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $59.62. 4,776,064 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,581,112. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.28 and a 200 day moving average of $56.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.87 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The company has a market cap of $100.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.71.

Altria Group 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.