Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors Raises Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,801 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4 %

MO opened at $57.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $58.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $53.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.09.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.06%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

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.