Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $330,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,320 shares of the company’s stock after selling 430 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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 raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $54.31 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.61 and a 200-day moving average of $52.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Altria Group 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.