WFA Asset Management Corp Has $865,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 21.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,830 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,518 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for 0.5% of WFA Asset Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. WFA Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE MO traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $45.81. 1,737,369 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,102,684. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.81. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $47.19. The firm has a market cap of $78.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.60, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.56%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

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.