Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Sells 17,323 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 58.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,270 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,323 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 171,453 shares of the company's stock worth $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,952 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4,665.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company's stock worth $160,241,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,907 shares during the period. Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Finally, Fernwood Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Fernwood Investment Management LLC now owns 68,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,773,000 after buying an additional 3,181 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $43.82. The stock had a trading volume of 7,359,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,921,079. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $47.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50-day moving average is $42.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.49.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.90.

About Altria Group

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.