Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 29,712 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Private Advisor Group LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,613 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,712 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 4,665.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,241,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,907 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653,455 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 305,996.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,316,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,785 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $525,810,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.08. 603,226 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,720,818. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.50. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $46.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.89%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. 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. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.