Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Has $7.30 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 1,209.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,512 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 128,856 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 16,458 shares of the company's stock worth $861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,769 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 8,322 shares of the company's stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 44,787 shares of the company's stock worth $2,342,000 after buying an additional 5,720 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 63,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $59.47. 4,755,482 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,657,087. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $43.83 and a one year high of $61.26. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $58.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.34%.

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.