Insider Selling: Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) VP Sells $988,303.65 in Stock

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $44.29 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $46.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.50.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.85%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 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.