Sepio Capital LP Sells 4,660 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sepio Capital LP cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,660 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in 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. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 136.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,022,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,701 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,317,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,481,000 after buying an additional 1,096,205 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MO. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

Altria Group Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $56.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.80. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.65 and a 1 year high of $60.18. The stock has a market cap of $94.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Altria Group’s payout ratio 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.