Patten & Patten Inc. TN Sells 422 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN cut its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,875 shares of the company’s stock after selling 422 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 136,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,961,000 after buying an additional 8,823 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,827,000 after buying an additional 3,975 shares in the last quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 26,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,367,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 5,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $58.97 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.65 and a 1 year high of $59.67. The firm has a market cap of $99.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.31.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.