Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 385,671 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,591 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $23,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 6,969.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,787,000 after buying an additional 2,131,813 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $91,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Altria Group by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,421 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its position in Altria Group by 86.0% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,675,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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 report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $57.79. The company had a trading volume of 9,428,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,670,404. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.63. The company has a market cap of $97.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.53 and a twelve month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released 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 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%. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

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.