Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC Has $2.85 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,410 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,735 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises about 1.1% of Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on 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 boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.10.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.12 on Friday, reaching $49.45. 5,776,517 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,592,368. The stock has a market cap of $84.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.40. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $49.92.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

About Altria Group

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.