Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Purchases 284,520 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,885,945 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 284,520 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Altria Group worth $233,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 64.7% in the fourth 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. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock worth $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,440 shares during the period. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 115.5% during the 4th quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 7,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $57.64. 22,196,231 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,641,051. The company's 50 day moving average is $59.33 and its 200 day moving average is $56.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $46.02 and a one year high of $61.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 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 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The business's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 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.