AlphaQuest LLC Sells 27,911 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 57.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,630 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,911 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,084,000 after purchasing an additional 54,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $58.98 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $53.29 and its 200 day moving average is $53.16.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.92%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Company 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.