Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Byrne Asset Management LLC

Byrne Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 21.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,335 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted 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 purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:MO opened at $59.74 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.11. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.83 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

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.