Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Avantax Planning Partners Inc.

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lowered its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.71.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $59.62. 4,776,064 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,581,112. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.87 and a 1-year high of $61.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.28 and a 200-day moving average of $56.45. The stock has a market cap of $100.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The business's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

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.