12,751 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Bought by &Partners

&Partners bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 12,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $45.74 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $47.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.56 billion, a PE ratio of 9.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

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.