111 Capital Purchases 8,432 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

111 Capital lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 80.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,937 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,432 shares during the period. 111 Capital’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,315,438,000 after purchasing an additional 886,583 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,724,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,229,000 after buying an additional 764,221 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 62.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after buying an additional 6,302,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,747,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,122,000 after buying an additional 132,846 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $68.98 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.52. The stock has a market cap of $115.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.82 and a 12 month high of $70.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 103.16%.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.