Lazari Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lazari Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,420 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,211 shares during the period. Altria Group comprises about 0.8% of Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,432,000 after acquiring an additional 42,490 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after buying an additional 242,442 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after buying an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,762,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,281,000 after buying an additional 337,548 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Altria Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $44.32. 10,651,618 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,216,503. The company has a market cap of $76.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $44.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.48. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $47.19.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.84%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

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.