Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Spinnaker Trust

Spinnaker Trust lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,633 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Spinnaker Trust’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning increased its position in Altria Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 531,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,128,000 after purchasing an additional 24,039 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Altria Group by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 67,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,129 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Altria Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 222,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,378,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 16,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 4,238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.5 %

MO stock opened at $53.37 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $90.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.57.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.