Ceeto Capital Group LLC Has $174,000 Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ceeto Capital Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 56.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3 %

MO stock traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.43. 6,995,663 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,154,169. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.70. The stock has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $50.47.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.77%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted 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. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.