Financial Management Professionals Inc. Cuts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Financial Management Professionals Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 46.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,511 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 4,665.6% during 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653,455 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $525,810,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in Altria Group by 103.9% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,742,000 after acquiring an additional 919,058 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Argus raised shares of 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, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:MO opened at $45.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $47.19. The company has a market capitalization of $78.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.61%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Altria Group Company 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.