Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Bfsg LLC

Bfsg LLC decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,547 shares of the company’s stock after selling 517 shares during the quarter. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $81,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,697 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Altria Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,935,224,000 after acquiring an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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. 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, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $53.37 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.65%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

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.