Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Sells 33,985 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 159,349 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,985 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.9% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.3% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 141,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,303,000 after purchasing an additional 9,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division now owns 4,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $1,885,743.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,221,318.33. The trade was a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.11.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3%

MO opened at $67.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.61. The stock has a market cap of $113.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.82 and a 1 year high of $70.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date 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.