Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 17.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,028 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,440 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 48,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6,819.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 296,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,504,000 after purchasing an additional 292,210 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 12,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,220,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.8%

MO traded down $0.49 on Tuesday, hitting $58.14. 7,654,608 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,554,661. The firm has a market cap of $97.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.73 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.33.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.02%. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Altria Group Company 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.