Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Bought by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 919,185 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,636 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $53,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Arista Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $881,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 63,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 4,429 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Altria Group by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 41,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 70,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,114,000 after buying an additional 4,819 shares during the period. Finally, Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.3% during the second quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $65.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.41. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $68.60. The stock has a market cap of $109.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $1.06 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

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.