Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Heritage Investors Management Corp

Heritage Investors Management Corp decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,580 shares of the company’s stock after selling 532 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after purchasing an additional 840,559 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,432,000 after buying an additional 42,490 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 8.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after acquiring an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,408 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.9 %

MO traded up $0.42 on Thursday, hitting $44.71. 7,964,973 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,786,965. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.52. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $46.46. The firm has a market cap of $76.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.77%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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