Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Decreases Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 800,866 shares of the company’s stock after selling 92,630 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $41,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,697 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,084,000 after acquiring an additional 54,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 48.8% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,581,000 after acquiring an additional 29,421 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:MO opened at $57.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $97.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. 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.