Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,216 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $325,000.
A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 157,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,210,000 after acquiring an additional 7,089 shares during the period. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 330.4% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 88,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,614,000 after purchasing an additional 5,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 7,530 shares of the company's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.
Altria Group Stock Performance
Shares of MO stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.92. 6,528,941 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,772,463. The company's 50 day moving average price is $54.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.95. The company has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.
Altria Group Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 68.92%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.43.
Read Our Latest Research Report on MO
About Altria Group
(
Free Report)
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.
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