Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $794.31 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,234,079 shares of the company's stock after selling 244,908 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.78% of Altria Group worth $794,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,670 shares of the company's stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $137,536,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $219,000. Finally, Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 22,462 shares of the company's stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.71.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0%

MO traded up $0.58 during trading on Monday, hitting $60.23. The company had a trading volume of 7,375,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,576,291. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $59.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $45.87 and a one year high of $61.26. The company has a market capitalization of $101.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.77%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.34%.

Altria Group Company 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.