Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 72.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,723 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,662 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $5,923,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 93,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,050,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,166,000 after purchasing an additional 52,528 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 56.1% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 4,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price 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 report on Thursday, June 20th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $45.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,583,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,190,913. The firm has a market cap of $78.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.66. 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 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.59%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.