Fulton Bank N.A. Lowers Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Fulton Bank N.A. cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,596 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,699 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,793,000 after buying an additional 191,236 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.46 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.93%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

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.