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

Vantage Financial Partners LLC decreased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during 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. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during 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. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,206,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:MO opened at $55.95 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.01. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $58.59. The stock has a market cap of $94.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MO. 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 report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.