Wealthspire Advisors LLC Acquires 11,096 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,024 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,096 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MO. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.42 on Thursday, reaching $44.71. 7,964,973 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,786,965. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $46.46. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

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.