Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $19.88 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Altria by 5.7% to 344,671 shares — worth about $19.88 million after purchasing an additional 18,738 shares.
• SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 Altria shares at an average price of $67.57 for roughly $1.89 million, reducing his ownership by 13.37% to 180,869 shares; insiders overall own 0.08% of the stock.
• Altria announced a quarterly dividend of $1.06 (annualized $4.24, yield 6.5%, ex-dividend March 25), while analysts' consensus rating is Hold with an average target price of $65.75.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 344,671 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,738 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Altria Group were worth $19,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $33,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 79.0% during the fourth quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 630 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Gould Capital LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,221,318.33. This trade represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.75.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MO opened at $65.46 on Thursday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $65.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.82 and a 1-year high of $70.51. The company has a market cap of $109.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.41.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. The business's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.16%.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc NYSE: MO is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company's operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria's principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.