Marble Wealth LLC Acquires New Shares in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Altria Group by 286.7% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,479,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,929,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,262 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 19.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,567,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,285,575,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172,753 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 438.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,637,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,749,000 after acquiring an additional 2,962,270 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,282,143,000 after acquiring an additional 1,903,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $89,460,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In related news, Director Ennis Debra J. Kelly sold 5,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total transaction of $418,327.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 73,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,332,700.25. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ellen R. Strahlman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.56, for a total value of $145,120.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,401.12. This trade represents a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 price target on Altria Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Five 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.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.44.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $70.45 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.31. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.70 and a 52 week high of $74.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 298.69% and a net margin of 34.34%.The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 88.70%.

About Altria Group

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.