Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Trustco Bank Corp N Y

Trustco Bank Corp N Y reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,673 shares of the company’s stock after selling 999 shares during the quarter. Trustco Bank Corp N Y’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,811,000 after buying an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $58.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $99.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.83 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.93%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.34%.

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.