D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 8,020 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,615 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,020 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $18,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $137,536,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 6,969.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,813 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,811,000 after buying an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $57.71.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.45 on Friday, reaching $59.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,776,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,574,313. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.39. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.76 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The company has a market cap of $100.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 3.46 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.34%.

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.