Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Focus Financial Network Inc.

Focus Financial Network Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,651 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,160 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698,585 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after purchasing an additional 793,327 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $27,613,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 182,943.7% in the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,930,000 after buying an additional 568,955 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.17.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $53.87 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $91.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.38.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.02. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.57%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.34%.

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.