Vantage Financial Partners LLC Sells 741 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vantage Financial Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,923 shares of the company’s stock after selling 741 shares during the period. Vantage Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.6 %

MO opened at $55.95 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $58.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.01.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.29%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.