Barclays PLC Has $419.22 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,270,524 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,006,300 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $419,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,516,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,777,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,265,780 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Altria Group by 286.7% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,479,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,929,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,262 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 19.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,567,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,285,575,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172,753 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,962,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,903,530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.44.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.6%

MO stock opened at $71.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $119.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.70 and a twelve month high of $74.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.40 and a 200-day moving average of $64.92.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 88.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ellen R. Strahlman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.56, for a total transaction of $145,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,102 shares in the company, valued at $1,821,401.12. The trade was a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ennis Debra J. Kelly sold 5,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total value of $418,327.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 73,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,332,700.25. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.