Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 81,822 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,014,376 shares of the company’s stock after selling 81,822 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $105,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. State Street Corp lifted 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 acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,678,000 after purchasing an additional 93,121 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $57.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $96.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.72. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.65 and a one year high of $60.18.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

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.