Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC has sold 8,831 shares of Altria Group, reducing its holdings by 13.1% to 58,500 shares, valued at approximately $3.5 million.
• Altria Group recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.44, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.37, with revenues reaching $5.29 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, contributing to an annual yield of 6.4%.

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,500 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,831 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,440 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,091,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Stock Up 2.4%

Altria Group stock traded up $1.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $65.71. 10,644,925 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,386,891. The company has a market cap of $110.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $65.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.72 and a 200-day moving average of $57.88.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.92%.

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.