Xponance Inc. Sells 2,839 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Xponance Inc. trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 202,367 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,839 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after buying an additional 46,697 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Altria Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,084,000 after buying an additional 54,102 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $58.31 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.38. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $59.67. The firm has a market cap of $98.59 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.00%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MO. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.