Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,516 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,496 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 205,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,480,000 after buying an additional 4,838 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 58,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,983,000 after buying an additional 7,677 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 196,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,047,000 after buying an additional 32,005 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 118,392 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,043,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,656,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $55.09. The company had a trading volume of 962,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,758,160. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $55.40. The stock has a market cap of $93.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.33, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.09.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.41%. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.