Farther Finance Advisors LLC Acquires 14,140 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 41.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,140 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.04 on Thursday, reaching $59.95. 10,483,337 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,639,730. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.83 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.66 and a 200 day moving average of $56.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Altria Group's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. 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 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.00.

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.