Bard Financial Services Inc. Cuts Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bard Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 134,552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,670 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $58.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $98.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.50 and its 200 day moving average is $56.05. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.83 and a twelve month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.96%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.