Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,418 shares of the company’s stock after selling 456 shares during the quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 120.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 415.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,935,000 after acquiring an additional 793,327 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $27,613,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 182,943.7% during the second quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,930,000 after purchasing an additional 568,955 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $49.61 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.83.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

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.