Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 427,500 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 46.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 498,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 427,500 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $26,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $32,206,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $57.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $98.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.16 and a 200-day moving average of $53.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Company 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.