Cortland Associates Inc. MO Sells 8,271 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Cortland Associates Inc. MO decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 43.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,663 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,271 shares during the period. Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Altria Group by 286.7% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,479,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,929,000 after buying an additional 3,321,262 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 19.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,567,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,285,575,000 after buying an additional 3,172,753 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 438.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,637,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,749,000 after buying an additional 2,962,270 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $89,460,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 24.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,264,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,815,000 after buying an additional 1,249,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.88.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In related news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2%

Altria Group stock opened at $64.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $108.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.41. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.70 and a 12 month high of $70.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $66.60 and its 200-day moving average is $62.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.16%.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.