Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $130.95 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,181,753 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,803 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.13% of Altria Group worth $130,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,679,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,666,323. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.57 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $59.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.77.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Finally, Barclays increased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.75.

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.