Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Grows Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 34,927 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,930 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 12,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Altria Group by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,428,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,641,000 after purchasing an additional 484,618 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $52.96 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $50.89 and its 200 day moving average is $46.42. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group Company 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.