Centre Asset Management LLC Sells 16,017 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Centre Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 185,993 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,017 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for 2.2% of Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $9,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 3,786.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,985,000 after buying an additional 1,698,585 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in 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. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MO. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.77. 860,330 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,089,089. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.53 and a 200 day moving average of $51.50. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors 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 7.73%. 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.