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

Gradient Investments LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,676 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,072 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,134,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,425,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,790 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 71,579,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,957,671,000 after purchasing an additional 513,208 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,302,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,896,798,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178,596 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,517,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $990,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192,266 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,220,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $761,072,000 after purchasing an additional 161,289 shares during the period. 58.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Altria Group from $46.50 to $49.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.13.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $45.32 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.33. The firm has a market cap of $80.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.35 and a 1 year high of $57.05.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 284.29% and a net margin of 22.97%. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 23rd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.30%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.87%.

Altria Group Company Profile

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Altria Group, Inc operates as a holding company, which engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. It operates through the following segments: Smokeable Products, Oral tobacco products, and Wine. The Smokeable Products segment consists of cigarettes manufactured and sold by PM USA and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco manufactured and sold by Middleton.