J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Buys 121,292 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 322.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 158,944 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 121,292 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $9,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Vista Investment Partners II LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 689 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 8,625 shares of the company's stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,499 shares of the company's stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skyline Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Skyline Advisors Inc. now owns 9,255 shares of the company's stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from 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 up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,413,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,670,833. The stock has a market cap of $100.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $47.57 and a one year high of $61.26. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $59.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.87.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date was 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.