Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Altrius Capital Management Inc

Altrius Capital Management Inc lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,533 shares during the quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. State Street Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in Altria Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,232,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,310,000 after acquiring an additional 197,945 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,563,000 after acquiring an additional 39,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $55.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.85. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Research analysts expect 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 was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.41%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

About Altria Group

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.