Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Excalibur Management Corp

Excalibur Management Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,907 shares of the company’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. Excalibur Management Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $56.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $95.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.19%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

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.