Flputnam Investment Management Co. Reduces Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,345 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,694 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.6% during the third 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. raised its stake in 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 valued at $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,232,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,310,000 after buying an additional 197,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,563,000 after acquiring an additional 39,341 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $57.33 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.96. The firm has a market cap of $96.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned 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 an average 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.