Apexium Financial LP Invests $561,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Apexium Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 32.0% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 2,330 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Altria Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 507,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,115,000 after buying an additional 4,569 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 444.9% in the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 72,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,291,000 after acquiring an additional 58,984 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 63,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 13,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at about $256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $53.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.94 and a 200-day moving average of $52.21. The stock has a market cap of $90.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

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.