Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Purchased by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,757 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,812 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $58.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $50.08 and a one year high of $68.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.