Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Sells 4,536 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 147,236 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,536 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $91,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position 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 worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Altria Group by 17.4% in 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3%

MO stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $59.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,985,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,630,761. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.80. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.83 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The company has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business 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 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.88%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MO. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.00.

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.