Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $3.37 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,135 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,840 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.62. 4,776,064 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,581,112. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.87 and a 1-year high of $61.26. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $59.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $57.71.

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.