Rakuten Securities Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Rakuten Securities Inc. lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 64.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,581 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,410 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Edge Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $221,000. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 45,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,757,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 27.6% in the first quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kercheville Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $246,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MO traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.54. 2,315,150 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,616,505. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.41 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The business's 50 day moving average is $58.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.12.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

Altria Group Company 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.