Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 200 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,406 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MO shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $52.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $53.09 and its 200 day moving average is $52.44. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.75%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.