O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Sells 66,589 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,888,473 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,589 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up 0.8% of O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $98,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Bcwm LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $5,296,000. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 117,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,119,000 after buying an additional 4,146 shares in the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $234,000. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $58.17 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.67. The company has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.01%. Altria Group’s payout ratio 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.