Stokes Family Office LLC Sells 4,742 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Stokes Family Office LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,260 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,742 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in 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 grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 5,418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.73. 7,315,576 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,961,852. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $47.83.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.21%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.