Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Intellectus Partners LLC

Intellectus Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,509 shares of the company’s stock after selling 331 shares during the quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given 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 target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4 %

Altria Group stock opened at $57.79 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $58.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.10. The firm has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a PE ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.06%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

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.