Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Wambolt & Associates LLC

Wambolt & Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,009 shares of the company’s stock after selling 489 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $46.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,881,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,950,357. The firm has a market cap of $79.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.88. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 8.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Altria Group

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.