Wealthspire Advisors LLC Sells 4,259 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Wealthspire Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, holding 58,333 shares valued at $3,501,000 post-sale.
• Altria Group's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with two buy ratings, six hold ratings, and two sell ratings, resulting in an average price target of $58.13.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02, yielding 6.5% annually, with a payout ratio of 78.92%.

Wealthspire Advisors LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 58,333 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,259 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 263,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,759,000 after buying an additional 36,167 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 696,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,403,000 after buying an additional 194,630 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 708,749 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,060,000 after buying an additional 14,774 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $64.21. The stock had a trading volume of 5,433,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,586,698. The firm has a market cap of $107.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.78. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.86 and a 52-week high of $64.35.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 78.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.13.

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.