Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC Has $1.82 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,823 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $45.95 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $45.38 and its 200-day moving average is $42.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 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 $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

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.