Broderick Brian C Invests $210,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Broderick Brian C acquired a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. now owns 43,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 27,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 197,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,633,000 after purchasing an additional 20,404 shares during the period. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $585,000. Finally, Affinity Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,652 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.10.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $47.08. The company had a trading volume of 7,347,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,989,302. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.04. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $47.21. The company has a market capitalization of $80.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.33%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.