Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP Decreases Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 84.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,656 shares of the company's stock after selling 70,181 shares during the quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP's holdings in Altria Group were worth $662,000 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock worth $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $56.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The business's fifty day moving average price is $58.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.35. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.83 and a 12-month high of $61.26.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

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.

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