Confluence Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Altria Group (NYSE:MO) by 12.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 511 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Capital Management LLC now owns 23,722,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,604,101,000 after buying an additional 3,700,520 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Altria Group by 23.8% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,799,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,353,000 after buying an additional 730,600 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 186.6% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,473,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,886,000 after buying an additional 2,261,462 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 14.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,399,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,802,000 after buying an additional 438,032 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.4% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 2,853,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,784,000 after buying an additional 39,264 shares during the period. 62.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Altria Group (NYSE MO) traded up 0.72% during trading on Monday, hitting $65.99. 5,962,309 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.05. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $60.01 and a 52-week high of $77.79. The company has a market cap of $127.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 0.61.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 59.50%. The business had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group will post $3.26 earnings per share for the current year.
Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 27th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 0.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th were given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 13th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 32.19%.
Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Vetr lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $80.38 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, June 19th. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sell” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Friday, May 26th. Cowen and Company set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.66.
In other news, Director George Munoz sold 5,000 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.35, for a total value of $361,750.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.
About Altria Group
Altria Group, Inc is a holding company. The Company’s segments include smokeable products, smokeless products and wine. The Company’s subsidiaries include Philip Morris USA Inc (PM USA), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States; John Middleton Co (Middleton), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made cigars and pipe tobacco, and UST LLC (UST), which, through its subsidiaries, including U.S.
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