Mosley Wealth Management Grows Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mosley Wealth Management lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,574 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 892 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Altria Group by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,084,000 after buying an additional 54,102 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,581,000 after buying an additional 29,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:MO opened at $57.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $97.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $54.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.65 and a 52 week high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.10%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.