Bailard Inc. Sells 1,511 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bailard Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,601 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,511 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $670,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 293.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE MO opened at $43.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.49 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.18 and a 200-day moving average of $41.47.

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

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

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.