Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. Has $1.15 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,025 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,532 shares during the quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,681,000 after acquiring an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,678,000 after acquiring an additional 93,121 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4 %

Altria Group stock opened at $57.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $55.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $60.18. The company has a market capitalization of $97.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G 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 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 predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.04%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.