Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Trims Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,348 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,560 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Altria Group by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock worth $466,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $59.62. The stock had a trading volume of 4,776,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,581,112. The firm has a market cap of $100.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.87 and a 1-year high of $61.26. The business's fifty day moving average is $59.28 and its 200-day moving average is $56.45.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MO. Citigroup increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $57.71.

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.