Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Financial Advocates Investment Management

Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,458 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 367 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 38,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 4,924 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 3,036 shares during the last quarter. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.3% in the fourth quarter. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 3,312 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 17,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $915,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0 %

MO stock opened at $52.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.