Norinchukin Bank The Acquires 7,252 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Norinchukin Bank The lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 78,767 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,252 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 86.0% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,675,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,782 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 136.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,022,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $58.13 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.02 and a fifty-two week high of $60.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.27. The stock has a market cap of $98.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.