Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Convergence Investment Partners LLC

Convergence Investment Partners LLC lessened its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 88,083 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,161 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up about 1.5% of Convergence Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Convergence Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after acquiring an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% in 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock worth $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock worth $466,811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:MO traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.82. The stock had a trading volume of 6,364,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,799,226. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $47.57 and a one year high of $61.26. The company has a market capitalization of $100.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.28 and a 200 day moving average of $57.06.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. Altria Group's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.82%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.75.

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.