Cornerstone Advisors LLC Sells 4,000 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 73,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 44.2% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 478,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,850,000 after acquiring an additional 146,597 shares in the last quarter. Resolute Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Resolute Advisors LLC now owns 11,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth approximately $347,000. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,866,000. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 30.2% during the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 2,133 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.10.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,776,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,592,368. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $49.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.40. The stock has a market cap of $84.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business 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 company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.93%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.