Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,001 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,417 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,001 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. True Wealth Design LLC raised 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Fairman Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 330.4% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MO. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $52.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.09. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $88.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.