Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stake Lifted by Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,470 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 745 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $32,206,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $58.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.65 and a 1 year high of $59.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.16.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently 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.