Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 3,038 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 703,929 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,038 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $36,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during 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. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $58.17 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

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.