Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,804 shares of the company's stock after selling 43,424 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $11,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $2,193,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position 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 valued at $466,811,000 after buying an additional 1,323,421 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $57.79. 9,428,820 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,665,072. The company has a market capitalization of $97.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.11 and a 1 year high of $61.26. The company's 50-day moving average is $59.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.58.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The business's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.75.

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.