Rhumbline Advisers Sells 23,212 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,878,832 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,212 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.17% of Altria Group worth $150,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 531,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,128,000 after buying an additional 24,039 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Altria Group by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 67,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,129 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,720 shares of the company's stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 222,925 shares of the company's stock worth $11,378,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 16,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 4,238 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MO. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.37. 6,666,642 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,287,030. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $90.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS 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, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.65%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.