Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Acquired by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 34.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,673 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,356 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 86.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 2,946 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6.9% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $346,000. Finally, AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $5,752,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $66.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.58. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.70 and a 1-year high of $70.51. The stock has a market cap of $111.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 180,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,221,318.33. This trade represents a 13.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.88.

Altria Group Company 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.