Colonial River Investments LLC Sells 1,870 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Colonial River Investments LLC lowered its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,899 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,870 shares during the quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $55.01 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $52.61 and its 200-day moving average is $52.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.42%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Altria Group Company 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.