Altria Group (NYSE:MO) SVP Charles Whitaker Sells 27,908 Shares

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) SVP Charles Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 180,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.42 during trading on Monday, hitting $66.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,484,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,264,432. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.82 and a fifty-two week high of $70.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $63.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.58. The company has a market capitalization of $111.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 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 Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be given a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.16%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 8.6% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after purchasing an additional 26,624 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,677,000 after purchasing an additional 44,303 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Altria Group by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,073,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,587,000 after purchasing an additional 814,665 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after buying an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its position in Altria Group by 155.4% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 31,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after buying an additional 18,997 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.11.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.