Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Acquires 1,954 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,269 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 875,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,832,000 after buying an additional 101,937 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 10.5% in the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 70,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after acquiring an additional 6,720 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 11,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Gratus Capital LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gratus Capital LLC now owns 6,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the period. Finally, Simmons Bank boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 41,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.66. 4,302,836 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,740,313. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.50. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $46.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for 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%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.78%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.