Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc.

TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,795 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,176 shares during the period. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Edmp Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 93,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,866,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 71,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,762,000 after purchasing an additional 3,128 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $53.90 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $53.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.52. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $91.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MO. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.