Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.2% After Insider Selling

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price dropped 0.2% during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $43.46 and last traded at $43.50. Approximately 2,186,305 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 11,766,087 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.59.

Specifically, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $75.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.50.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653,455 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 305,996.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,316,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,347,000 after buying an additional 1,315,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $525,810,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Company 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.