Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Holdings Boosted by D Orazio & Associates Inc.

D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,404 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,105 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 33.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2 %

MO stock traded up $0.67 on Wednesday, hitting $55.11. 1,735,995 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,773,814. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $55.15. The stock has a market cap of $93.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.51 and a 200-day moving average of $49.05.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.40%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Company 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.