Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 131,127 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,071,869 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,127 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.12% of Altria Group worth $136,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after acquiring an additional 26,624 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,677,000 after purchasing an additional 44,303 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,073,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,587,000 after purchasing an additional 814,665 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its stake in Altria Group by 155.4% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 31,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 18,997 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $67.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.59. The company has a market cap of $112.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $52.82 and a one year high of $70.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share 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%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 103.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 180,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,221,318.33. The trade was a 13.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.11.

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.