Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,653 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth approximately $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 40.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 111.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $64.00 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The stock has a market cap of $107.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $63.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.34.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.88.

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.