Wells Fargo & Company MN Cuts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,982,923 shares of the company’s stock after selling 85,846 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.24% of Altria Group worth $208,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 136.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,022,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,701 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,317,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,481,000 after buying an additional 1,096,205 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $56.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.80. The stock has a market cap of $94.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.65 and a one year high of $60.18.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its 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, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.