Woodline Partners LP Acquires New Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 101,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,322,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $305,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 185,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,706,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 97.4% in the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 10,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 5,310 shares in the last quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Altria Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 174,742 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,137,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE MO traded down $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,096,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,638,702. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.77. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.83 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MO shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.