Optimist Retirement Group LLC Sells 219 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Optimist Retirement Group LLC lessened its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,453 shares of the company’s stock after selling 219 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for approximately 1.0% of Optimist Retirement Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Optimist Retirement Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 729.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698,585 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $52.58 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03. The firm has a market cap of $89.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $53.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.