Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by First Foundation Advisors

First Foundation Advisors cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 29,199 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,404 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after purchasing an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,681,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,870,000 after buying an additional 617,900 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,567,000 after buying an additional 915,478 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

MO stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.45. 5,776,517 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,592,368. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.40. The company has a market capitalization of $84.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $49.92.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.93%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.10.

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.