Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Sells 559 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 559 shares during the quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MO. State Street Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,022,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,737,000 after buying an additional 1,166,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Altria Group Trading Down 3.2 %

NYSE MO opened at $56.05 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.65 and a 1-year high of $60.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.72 and a 200-day moving average of $53.78. The firm has a market cap of $94.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) 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 forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.