Cohen Klingenstein LLC Sells 245 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cohen Klingenstein LLC cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 51,203 shares of the company’s stock after selling 245 shares during the period. Cohen Klingenstein LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Altria Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 4.2% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,330,000 after buying an additional 32,318 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $51.92 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.33 and a 200-day moving average of $51.91. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

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.