Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 393,237 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,089 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Altria Group were worth $15,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 108,222.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,590,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $849,763,000 after buying an additional 18,573,146 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 84.1% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,426,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,823,000 after acquiring an additional 2,478,576 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,302,349 shares of the company's stock worth $1,896,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,178,596 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company's stock worth $198,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653,455 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Altria Group by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,105,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $781,883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531,337 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:MO traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.09. The company had a trading volume of 22,313,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,870,677. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $48.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.23, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $41.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.90.

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.