Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by GLOBALT Investments LLC GA

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 71,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37,773 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ETF Store Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% during the third quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 7,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,476,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $397,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Altria Group by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 451,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,060,000 after acquiring an additional 19,673 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MO. Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $55.93 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.29. The company has a market cap of $94.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $56.32.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.29%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.