Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 611,586 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,544 shares during the period. Altria Group comprises 2.2% of FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $31,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $238,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.7% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,827,000 after buying an additional 3,975 shares during the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 14.1% in the third quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 7,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the period. Finally, Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC now owns 5,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $55.40 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $55.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.89 billion, a PE ratio of 9.36, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.36%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

Altria Group Profile

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.