Trust Co. of Virginia VA Has $2.25 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Trust Co. of Virginia VA lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,538 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,416 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Virginia VA’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,923,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,050,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,166,000 after acquiring an additional 52,528 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed 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 target price 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 three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

MO stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $45.55. The stock had a trading volume of 12,238,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,876,758. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $47.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.74.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.61%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.