Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 16.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 240,093 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,167 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $14,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 45,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,387,000 after acquiring an additional 5,325 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 32,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $58.50 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.57 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.71. The company has a market cap of $98.55 billion, a PE ratio of 9.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.97%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

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.