Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Has $4.87 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,186 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,940 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 36,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 62,592 shares of the company's stock worth $3,273,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370 shares in the last quarter. Partners Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $458,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in Altria Group by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 73,132 shares of the company's stock worth $3,824,000 after buying an additional 4,488 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded down $0.36 on Wednesday, hitting $59.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 922,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,537,717. The company has a market capitalization of $100.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.98, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.61. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.22.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.00.

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.