Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Laurion Capital Management LP

Laurion Capital Management LP lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 119,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,959 shares during the period. Laurion Capital Management LP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Altria Group by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $59.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $100.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $43.83 and a one year high of $61.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $58.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.