Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 109,325 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,211,052 shares of the company's stock after selling 109,325 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.25% of Altria Group worth $252,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 30,695 shares of the company's stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 21,778 shares of the company's stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 100.4% in the first quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 85,006 shares of the company's stock worth $5,102,000 after purchasing an additional 42,595 shares during the period. Finally, Holderness Investments Co. raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% in the first quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 8,362 shares of the company's stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $65.82 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $60.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $66.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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