624 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Bought by Marshall Investment Management LLC

Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth $34,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth $41,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $55.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $93.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.73.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.