O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,888,473 shares of the company's stock after selling 66,589 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up approximately 0.8% of O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Altria Group worth $98,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 worth $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock worth $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after acquiring an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company's stock valued at $234,678,000 after buying an additional 93,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded up $1.96 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $60.11. 17,328,607 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,881,192. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week high of $60.16. The company has a market capitalization of $101.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $55.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

About Altria Group

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.