Proficio Capital Partners LLC Sells 854 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,285 shares of the company’s stock after selling 854 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 33.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $53.94 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $55.05. The firm has a market cap of $91.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.50 and a 200 day moving average of $48.90.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

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.