Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,344 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,932 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 163.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after buying an additional 31,568 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 68.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 66,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,008,000 after purchasing an additional 26,853 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 81,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,726,000 after purchasing an additional 7,323 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $51.17 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.10. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted 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 business 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 business’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.97%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus 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.