Wealthspire Advisors LLC Purchases 3,370 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,592 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,370 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after buying an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MO opened at $55.01 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.40, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.42%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.