Successful Portfolios LLC Sells 1,221 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Successful Portfolios LLC reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,522 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,221 shares during the quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 22.0% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 563,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,712,000 after acquiring an additional 101,670 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $198,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653,455 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.6% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,762,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,281,000 after acquiring an additional 337,548 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 41,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $1,480,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $45.55 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $78.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 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 $47.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.75.

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. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.