Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 64.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,702 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 11,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,499,000. Bill Few Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 13,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 18,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $52.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.94 and a 200-day moving average of $52.14. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.84%. 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

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

About Altria Group

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.