Wells Fargo & Company MN Reduces Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wells Fargo & Company MN reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,982,923 shares of the company’s stock after selling 85,846 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $208,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth $963,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 90.8% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 112,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,746,000 after purchasing an additional 53,567 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $32,206,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 52.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 100,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,154,000 after purchasing an additional 34,573 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 113.2% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 81,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,140,000 after purchasing an additional 43,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $56.05 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $60.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.80.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

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.