Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 81,557 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 469,894 shares of the company's stock after selling 81,557 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $28,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vista Investment Partners II LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 37.8% during the first quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 689 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Altria Group by 3.1% in the first quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skyline Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% in the first quarter. Skyline Advisors Inc. now owns 9,255 shares of the company's stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded down $0.76 on Friday, reaching $57.79. 9,428,820 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,665,072. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.61. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.11 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The firm has a market cap of $97.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 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 company had revenue of $4.52 billion for 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 was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.06%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Altria Group Company 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.