Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Investment Management Corp of Ontario

Investment Management Corp of Ontario lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,496 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,600 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,723 shares of the company's stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 26,253 shares of the company's stock worth $1,373,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company's stock worth $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,367 shares of the company's stock worth $856,000 after buying an additional 3,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $56.50. 9,066,602 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,765,563. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $43.83 and a one year high of $61.26. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $58.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.22%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

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.