Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI cut its stake in Altria Group (NYSE:MO) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,682 shares of the company’s stock after selling 199 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Acropolis Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. HM Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. HM Capital Management LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Group LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Strategic Financial Group LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 0.7% in the first quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 3,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.39% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Altria Group (MO) traded down 0.95% during midday trading on Friday, hitting $63.69. 10,210,604 shares of the company traded hands. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $69.77 and a 200-day moving average of $72.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.79 billion, a PE ratio of 8.40 and a beta of 0.61. Altria Group has a 52 week low of $60.01 and a 52 week high of $77.79.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 59.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group will post $3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Several equities analysts have commented on MO shares. Vetr raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $74.89 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, July 31st. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 23rd. BidaskClub raised shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Friday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.66.
In other news, CEO Martin J. Barrington sold 15,300 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.03, for a total value of $994,959.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 701,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,590,842.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director George Munoz sold 5,000 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.35, for a total value of $361,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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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