Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 19.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 226,964 shares of the company's stock after selling 55,302 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Altria Group were worth $11,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,793,000 after acquiring an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $54.70. 6,721,871 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,565,865. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $92.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $53.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.95.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Altria Group Company 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.