Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Sells 4,440 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its stake in Altria Group by 19.5%, selling 4,440 shares in the first quarter, resulting in ownership of 18,280 shares valued at approximately $1,097,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Altria, with FSA Advisors Inc. and Premier Fund Managers Ltd. seeing significant gains of 23.6% and 49.5%, respectively.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Altria's stock, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $56.75, despite various upgrades and downgrades from firms such as Barclays and Citigroup.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 19.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,280 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,440 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vista Investment Partners II LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company's stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company's stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,762 shares of the company's stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 689 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE MO traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $61.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,687,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,502,353. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $59.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.39. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $62.65.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 78.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. 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. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.13.

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.