Cambridge Trust Co. Has $332,000 Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cambridge Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 41.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,229 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,724 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1 %

MO opened at $41.33 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.87 and a 200 day moving average of $41.42. The company has a market cap of $70.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.