Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Buys 54,096 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 54,096 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Altria Group worth $163,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CFM Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 81,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,304,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $45.93. 536,084 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,093,225. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.26 and a 200-day moving average of $42.78. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $47.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.53%. The ex-dividend date 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.