Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 224,410 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,630 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $14,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 62.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,446,000 after buying an additional 6,302,819 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after buying an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Altria Group by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,264,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,525 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Altria Group by 1,094.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,158,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061,413 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,315,438,000 after acquiring an additional 886,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Five equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $66.48 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.58. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.82 and a 52 week high of $70.51. The company has a market cap of $111.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 103.16%.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.