Security Asset Management Continues to Hold Position in Altria Group (NYSE:MO)

Security Asset Management held its stake in shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,852 shares of the company’s stock at the end of the first quarter. Altria Group accounts for approximately 1.3% of Security Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Security Asset Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. A.R.T. Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $3,266,000. Girard Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Girard Securities Inc. now owns 10,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 384,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,995,000 after buying an additional 13,022 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 10,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $727,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation now owns 2,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 62.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Shares of Altria Group (MO) traded down 0.95% during trading on Friday, reaching $63.69. The company had a trading volume of 10,210,604 shares. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.51. The company has a market cap of $122.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40 and a beta of 0.61. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $60.01 and a 12 month high of $77.79.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a return on equity of 59.50% and a net margin of 56.98%. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Altria Group will post $3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 27th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 0.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Vetr raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $74.89 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Zacks Investment Research cut Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 23rd. Piper Jaffray Companies started coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sell” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Friday, May 26th. Finally, BidaskClub raised Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.66.

In other news, CEO Martin J. Barrington sold 15,300 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.03, for a total value of $994,959.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 701,074 shares in the company, valued at $45,590,842.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $361,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.