Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,624 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,897 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in 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 buying an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in 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. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after acquiring an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,421 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3%

Altria Group stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $59.57. The stock had a trading volume of 3,758,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,191,111. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $59.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.95. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.57 and a 12-month high of $61.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The company's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.