Virtu Financial LLC Takes $2.04 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 39,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,041,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company's stock worth $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.2% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company's stock worth $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,330,000 after acquiring an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock worth $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 729.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $54.93. 6,532,062 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,577,666. The firm has a market cap of $93.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.63. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.51 and a 200 day moving average of $50.74.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group's revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Altria Group Company 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.