Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC

B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 91.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,797 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,353 shares during the quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 163.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 31,568 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Altria Group by 68.5% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 66,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,008,000 after buying an additional 26,853 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $5,565,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,793,000 after buying an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 1,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $52.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.94 and a 200-day moving average of $52.14. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

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.