Bridges Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) by 49.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,979 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 33,236 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for about 1.7% of Bridges Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Bridges Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 133.3% in the first quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% in the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 97.4% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Advantage Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. Advantage Investment Management LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Feltz Wealth PLAN Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.39% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) traded down 0.46% during trading on Thursday, hitting $63.42. 2,868,877 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. Altria Group has a 12-month low of $60.01 and a 12-month high of $77.79. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.03 and a 200-day moving average of $72.36. The company has a market cap of $122.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 0.61.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a return on equity of 59.50% and a net margin of 56.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group will post $3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 27th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 0.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
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Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 6th. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Jefferies Group LLC set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Vetr upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $79.51 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Finally, UBS AG decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.47.
In other news, CEO Martin J. Barrington sold 15,300 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.03, for a total transaction of $994,959.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 701,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,590,842.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.
About Altria Group
Altria Group, Inc is a holding company. The Company’s segments include smokeable products, smokeless products and wine. The Company’s subsidiaries include Philip Morris USA Inc (PM USA), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States; John Middleton Co (Middleton), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made cigars and pipe tobacco, and UST LLC (UST), which, through its subsidiaries, including U.S.
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