Insider Selling: Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Director Sells 5,790 Shares of Stock

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Director Ennis Debra Kelly sold 5,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total transaction of $418,327.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 73,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,332,700.25. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $71.83. The stock had a trading volume of 3,813,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,716,601. The business’s fifty day moving average is $68.02 and its 200 day moving average is $63.89. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.70 and a 52-week high of $74.56. The firm has a market cap of $119.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.48.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.34% and a negative return on equity of 298.69%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.70%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,282,143,000 after buying an additional 1,903,530 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,886,000 after buying an additional 1,147,141 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,516,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,777,931,000 after buying an additional 6,265,780 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,984,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,651,383,000 after buying an additional 729,999 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,306,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,286,174,000 after buying an additional 335,089 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MO shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.44.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.