Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division trimmed its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,598 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,009 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 163.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 31,568 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 24.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,141,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,550,000 after purchasing an additional 423,091 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 22,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Altria Group by 57.5% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 21,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 7,983 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $50.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.88. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.03%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.