Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 30,239 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 46.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,410 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,239 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 buying an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 48,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 6,819.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 296,495 shares of the company's stock worth $15,504,000 after acquiring an additional 292,210 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Altria Group by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 12,637 shares of the company's stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,864 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,220,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0%

MO opened at $58.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.29. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.73 and a 52 week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 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 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 for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given 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 6.94%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.

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