Newport Trust Company LLC Sells 20,856 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Posted by Stanley Muller on May 22nd, 2026

Newport Trust Company LLC cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Free Report) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 103,142 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,856 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Altria Group by 286.7% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,479,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,929,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321,262 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 19.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,567,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,285,575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172,753 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 438.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,637,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,749,000 after acquiring an additional 2,962,270 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,282,143,000 after acquiring an additional 1,903,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $89,460,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.33.

Read Our Latest Report on MO

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $73.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.56 and a 200-day moving average of $63.43. The company has a market cap of $122.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $54.70 and a one year high of $74.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.34% and a negative return on equity of 298.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Profile

(Free Report)

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.