Van Cleef Asset Management Inc Sells 7,796 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 59.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,378 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,796 shares during the quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,193,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,148,000 after purchasing an additional 40,350 shares in the last quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $654,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 833.3% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. now owns 41,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Altria Group by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 37,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.4 %

MO traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $43.54. 14,204,733 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,996,659. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.00%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.