Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 56,905.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,679 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 192,341 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $9,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 66.2% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 46,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 18,450 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 33.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 45.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 65,405 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 20,438 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 61.9% in the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 3,707 shares during the period. Finally, InterOcean Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 34.1% in the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 29,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 7,441 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $55.86. The stock had a trading volume of 6,592,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,760,528. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $56.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.67 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.30%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

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.