Oak Thistle LLC Sells 50,336 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Oak Thistle LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 78.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,531 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,336 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after purchasing an additional 242,442 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after purchasing an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,762,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,281,000 after purchasing an additional 337,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653,455 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Altria Group stock traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $46.03. The stock had a trading volume of 7,065,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,222,710. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $47.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.75.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

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.