Sawyer & Company Inc Sells 324 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sawyer & Company Inc decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 324 shares during the quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $48,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% during the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, CFM Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 81,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,304,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $45.56 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $47.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $45.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.60%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.