Precedent Wealth Partners LLC Has $1.20 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Precedent Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,970 shares of the company’s stock after selling 331 shares during the period. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 7,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,522 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 177,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,257,000 after purchasing an additional 6,031 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 19,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 5,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,626 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 93.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 708,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,026,000 after purchasing an additional 342,953 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.6 %

MO stock opened at $52.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.94 and its 200-day moving average is $52.14.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.84%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

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.