Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 2,427 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 46,968 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,935,224,000 after acquiring an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,051,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,786,000 after purchasing an additional 35,953 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3 %

MO stock opened at $52.20 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.