Quest Partners LLC Sells 10,950 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Quest Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,541 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,950 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,330,000 after acquiring an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $483,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $55.93 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.29. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $56.32. The company has a market capitalization of $94.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.29%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target 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 raised their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

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.