Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by FineMark National Bank & Trust

FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,906 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 611,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,680,000 after acquiring an additional 10,443 shares in the last quarter. WBI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 177,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after acquiring an additional 82,350 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 8,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 3,601 shares during the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 9,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Journey Strategic Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $346,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $45.52. 2,202,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,512,667. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $46.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.89.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.61%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.