TIAA Trust National Association Has $2.59 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

TIAA Trust National Association increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,429 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,520 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in Altria Group by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after buying an additional 5,418 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 11,111 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $49.40. 2,473,928 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,776,601. The firm has a market cap of $84.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $49.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share 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 net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.