Equitable Holdings Inc. Trims Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Equitable Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,049 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,811 shares during the quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 34,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113 shares during the period. Parsec Financial Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Parsec Financial Management Inc. now owns 8,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,798,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 311,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,158,000 after purchasing an additional 19,082 shares during the last quarter. 59.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of MO opened at $53.20 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $96.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.67 and a 200 day moving average of $49.98. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.53 and a 52-week high of $57.05.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.88 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 2,506.92% and a net margin of 11.64%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 25th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 24th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.77%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 219.51%.

Several research firms recently issued reports on MO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $57.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 22nd. Cowen increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $51.00 to $53.00 in a report on Thursday, April 7th. Cowen increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $51.00 to $53.00 in a report on Thursday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Altria Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.75.

About Altria Group (Get Rating)

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars and pipe tobacco principally under the Black & Mild brand; and moist smokeless tobacco products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands, as well as provides on! oral nicotine pouches.

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