Certified Advisory Corp Sells 348 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Certified Advisory Corp lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,297 shares of the company’s stock after selling 348 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 157,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,210,000 after purchasing an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 330.4% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 88,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,614,000 after purchasing an additional 5,949 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its position in Altria Group by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 7,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE MO opened at $51.14 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.91.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

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.