Gotham Asset Management LLC Sells 27,181 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Gotham Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 200,460 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,181 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $59.46 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.83 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.04 and a 200 day moving average of $55.29. The firm has a market cap of $100.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

About Altria Group

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.