Altria Group, Inc. $MO Position Boosted by M Holdings Securities Inc.

M Holdings Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,234 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the period. M Holdings Securities Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $674,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Altria Group by 21.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 318,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,105,000 after acquiring an additional 55,187 shares during the period. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 18.6% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC now owns 20,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,254 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in Altria Group by 52.7% during the first quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,231,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,896,000 after acquiring an additional 424,766 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 8.7% during the first quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 254,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,277,000 after acquiring an additional 20,479 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Altria Group by 12.6% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $65.82 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.86 and a 52 week high of $66.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.34.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.13.

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.