Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Holdings Decreased by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 44.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,291 shares of the company's stock after selling 102,937 shares during the period. ING Groep NV's holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 15.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company's stock worth $74,330,000 after acquiring an additional 32,318 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock worth $100,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Finally, White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $483,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE MO traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $55.93. The company had a trading volume of 8,201,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,779,230. The firm has a market cap of $94.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $56.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.22.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business's revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.29%. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

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.