Atlas Wealth Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Atlas Wealth Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,768 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Atlas Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd 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 position 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 valued at $178,563,000 after purchasing an additional 39,341 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $53.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $91.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 2.80 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 $58.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.52.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 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 issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

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.