Modern Wealth Management LLC Has $792,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Modern Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,716 shares of the company’s stock after selling 960 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,678,000 after purchasing an additional 93,121 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,232,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,310,000 after purchasing an additional 197,945 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $57.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $97.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.65 and a 1-year high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in 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. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group 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.