Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 7,555 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 56,937 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,555 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 293.6% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $45.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.58. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

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.