American Century Companies Inc. Sells 16,984 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 38.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,984 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,022,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,701 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,418,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,441,000 after purchasing an additional 523,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 93.9% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 708,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,026,000 after purchasing an additional 342,953 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $56.40 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.96. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.65 and a one year high of $60.18. The company has a market cap of $95.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.23%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

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.