Park Edge Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 16,234 Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Park Edge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 16,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 62.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302,819 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Altria Group by 286.7% during the 3rd 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 during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 438.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $89,460,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Altria Group by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,264,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,525 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,221,318.33. The trade was a 13.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $65.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.53. The company has a market capitalization of $109.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.41. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.82 and a 1 year high of $70.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. The business had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.75.

Altria Group Company 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.