Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,787 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,720 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Fairman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MO. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $53.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.21. The company has a market capitalization of $90.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.65%. 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.