Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Clark Estates Inc. NY

Clark Estates Inc. NY lowered its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,060 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,090 shares during the period. Altria Group comprises 0.7% of Clark Estates Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Clark Estates Inc. NY’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. State Street Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $32,206,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:MO opened at $56.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.99. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.72 and a 1-year high of $58.59. The stock has a market cap of $95.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.