DAVENPORT & Co LLC Purchases 23,604 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 313,424 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,604 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $18,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 71,875 shares of the company's stock worth $3,758,000 after purchasing an additional 9,520 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,658 shares of the company's stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,248 shares of the company's stock worth $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Altria Group by 72.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 195,260 shares of the company's stock worth $10,210,000 after purchasing an additional 82,313 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MO. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned 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 $57.71.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $59.62. 4,776,064 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,574,313. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.76 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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