Altria Group, Inc. $MO Stock Holdings Lifted by AlphaCore Capital LLC

AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 733.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,504 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 101,648 shares during the quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 62.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302,819 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 1.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,364,216,000 after buying an additional 1,599,923 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1,094.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,158,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061,413 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,315,438,000 after acquiring an additional 886,583 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Altria Group by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,073,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,587,000 after acquiring an additional 814,665 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.6%

MO stock opened at $69.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $117.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.82 and a 1 year high of $69.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.50.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its 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 net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 103.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.33.

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.