Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 2,962 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,571 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,962 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,960,000 after acquiring an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,304,000 after acquiring an additional 11,111 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $556,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.08.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.02 on Friday, reaching $53.38. 1,736,982 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,318,317. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $53.68.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

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.