Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group, purchasing an additional 1,300,787 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 158 million shares, valued at nearly $9.49 billion.
• Several analysts have revised their price targets for Altria Group, with Citigroup raising its target from $52 to $55 and Morgan Stanley from $57 to $62, reflecting varied opinions on the stock's performance.
• Altria Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, indicating an annualized yield of 6.5%, highlighting the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 158,117,225 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,300,787 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.39% of Altria Group worth $9,490,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Vista Investment Partners II LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% in the first quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company's stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company's stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 2.7% during the first quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,762 shares of the company's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 37.8% during the first quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 689 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:MO traded up $0.66 on Friday, hitting $64.21. The stock had a trading volume of 5,433,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,586,698. The stock has a market cap of $107.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.78. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.86 and a 1-year high of $64.35.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

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.