NBT Bank N A NY Sells 1,298 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

NBT Bank N A NY decreased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,088 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,298 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,678,000 after buying an additional 93,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,232,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,310,000 after buying an additional 197,945 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $57.79 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.11. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $58.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Company 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.