State Street Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

State Street Corp lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,192,620 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,599,699 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 4.20% of Altria Group worth $5,124,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 78.8% during the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 110.9% during the 2nd quarter. Evolution Advisers Inc. now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:MO traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $68.72. 1,879,118 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,239,923. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.70 and a 1 year high of $77.06.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 315.29% and a net margin of 33.99%.The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $1.11 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 93.67%.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other news, Director Kathryn McQuade purchased 1,500 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.62 per share, with a total value of $101,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 114,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,771,498.98. The trade was a 1.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.11.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Through its operating companies, Altria develops, manufactures and markets cigarettes, cigars, oral tobacco products, nicotine pouches and electronic vaping products, with its business focused primarily on the United States.

Altria’s smokeable products portfolio includes Marlboro cigarettes, which are manufactured and marketed in the U.S. by Philip Morris USA, as well as Black & Mild cigars through John Middleton.