Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Fred Alger Management LLC

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 71.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,129 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 60,266 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 4.2%

Shares of MO stock traded down $2.50 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $56.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,141,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,754,220. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.04 and a 200 day moving average of $55.29. The stock has a market cap of $95.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.83 and a 12-month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.