Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Focus Financial Network Inc.

Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,476 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 420 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 6,969.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,813 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MO. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $59.92 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.08. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.83 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.81%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.