Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC Sells 593 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,998 shares of the company’s stock after selling 593 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Fairman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 330.4% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MO shares. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.5 %

MO stock opened at $51.92 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.