Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Trims Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 27.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,233 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $29,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

MO stock opened at $45.55 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $47.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $45.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.75. The company has a market capitalization of $78.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.61%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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.