Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Trims Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 895,896 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,081 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of Altria Group worth $46,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock worth $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in Altria Group by 19.9% during the third 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. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company's stock worth $178,563,000 after purchasing an additional 39,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.70. The stock had a trading volume of 8,158,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,196,398. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $89.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.