Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY Trims Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 32.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,264 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,571 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $5,972,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $219,141,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,827,000 after buying an additional 441,083 shares during the period. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Fiduciary Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $246,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $64.21 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $64.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.42, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.92%.

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.