Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,773 shares of the company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 104.2% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 6,925 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $3,554,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 75,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 20.5% in the first quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $49.63. 1,198,016 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,893,822. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95. The company has a market cap of $85.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.88.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

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.