Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Allworth Financial LP

Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 16.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,753 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,790 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP's holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6,969.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company's stock worth $129,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,813 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $91,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Altria Group by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock worth $466,811,000 after buying an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 86.0% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,675,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,782 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.76 on Friday, hitting $57.79. 9,428,820 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,665,072. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $59.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.58. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.11 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.34 billion, a PE ratio of 9.68, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.06%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.34%.

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.