Executive Wealth Group LLC Acquires 421 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Executive Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,688 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 421 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises 0.5% of Executive Wealth Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Executive Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 37.1% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 371,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,694,000 after purchasing an additional 100,380 shares in the last quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $628,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 10.7% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 132,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,802 shares in the last quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $230,000. Finally, Phoenix Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $280,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $44.50. The company had a trading volume of 3,329,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,099,446. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.49. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $47.19. The stock has a market cap of $76.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Insider Activity

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

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.