Axis Wealth Partners LLC Buys Shares of 11,336 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Axis Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $593,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in 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 during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $57.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.10. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $58.59. The firm has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. 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 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.