Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. Sells 650 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,366 shares of the company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of MO opened at $53.69 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.98. The firm has a market cap of $92.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

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.