Moser Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Moser Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,108 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,240 shares during the quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $569,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded up $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $44.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,097,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,702,090. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $46.46. The company has a market capitalization of $76.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.50.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly 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. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.