Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC Sells 1,043 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,078 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,043 shares during the quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 51,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 1,861 shares in the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $212,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the fourth 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. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $654,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.38. 13,794,252 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,969,122. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 business earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

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.