Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Atlas Brown Inc.

Atlas Brown Inc. increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,530 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at about $1,351,000. AdvisorShares Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 11.6% in the second quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 10,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,677,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,938,000 after buying an additional 224,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 14,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.6 %

MO stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.69. 8,300,096 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,107,899. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.62 and its 200-day moving average is $51.73. The company has a market cap of $85.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 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 data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.05%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.