RKL Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

RKL Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 29.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,523 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,914 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:MO opened at $58.63 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.33. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.73 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $98.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.61.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.96%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group 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.