Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Has $623,000 Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,792 shares of the company’s stock after selling 256 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $525,810,000. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 103.9% in the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,742,000 after purchasing an additional 919,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,567,000 after purchasing an additional 915,478 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

MO traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $49.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,776,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,592,368. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.40. The firm has a market cap of $84.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $49.92.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

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.