Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Reduces Position in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 21.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 44,220 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,862 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,282,143,000 after buying an additional 1,903,530 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,141 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 10.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,984,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,651,383,000 after acquiring an additional 729,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,306,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,286,174,000 after purchasing an additional 335,089 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Altria Group news, Director Ennis Debra J. Kelly sold 5,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total transaction of $418,327.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 73,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,332,700.25. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ellen R. Strahlman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.56, for a total transaction of $145,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,821,401.12. The trade was a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $64.43 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.69. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.70 and a 52-week high of $77.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 315.29% and a net margin of 33.99%.The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group 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.