Altria Group, Inc. $MO Stock Position Lessened by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 341,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,100 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $22,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 86.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 6.9% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 6.0% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 36,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Altria Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 45,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MO opened at $68.98 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $62.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.82 and a 1-year high of $70.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 103.16%.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.