Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 1,713 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,367 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,713 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after acquiring an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after acquiring an additional 10,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after purchasing an additional 32,318 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $49.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Altria Group 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.