Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Sells 44,976 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,065 shares of the company's stock after selling 44,976 shares during the quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its position in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company's stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 921 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 14,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded up $0.47 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.94. 2,933,130 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,453,526. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $58.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.83 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $100.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm 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 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.81%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

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.