Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 73.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,156 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4,665.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,241,000 after buying an additional 3,888,907 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653,455 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $525,810,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 103.9% during the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,742,000 after purchasing an additional 919,058 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MO. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4 %

MO traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $44.15. 1,187,146 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,080,979. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.49. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $47.19. The company has a market cap of $75.83 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, 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 is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group 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.