Arista Wealth Management LLC Sells 7,848 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Arista Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 53.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,846 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,848 shares during the quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,282,143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903,530 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,984,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,651,383,000 after buying an additional 729,999 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 19.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,567,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,285,575,000 after buying an additional 3,172,753 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,705,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,543,000 after buying an additional 59,189 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,747,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,122,000 after buying an additional 132,846 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 180,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,221,318.33. This trade represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $72.19 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $68.02 and its 200-day moving average is $63.89. The stock has a market cap of $120.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.48. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.70 and a twelve month high of $74.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.34% and a negative return on equity of 298.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.72 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.70%.

Altria Group Profile

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.