Cypress Wealth Services LLC Decreases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cypress Wealth Services LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,097 shares of the company’s stock after selling 822 shares during the quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.90 during trading on Thursday, hitting $45.46. 8,632,756 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,248,205. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $47.19. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group 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.