Private Advisor Group LLC Has $11.56 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 192,560 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,235 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $11,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $58.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.84. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.57 and a 52-week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 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.

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