Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 23,061 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $44.04. The stock had a trading volume of 429,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,719,813. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.50. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $46.67. The company has a market cap of $75.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’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 transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.