Wellington Management Group LLP Has $13.76 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 263,131 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,167 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.40. The company had a trading volume of 6,784,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,640,026. The company has a market capitalization of $101.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.83 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The company's 50-day moving average is $58.40 and its 200-day moving average is $55.92.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.