Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Acquired by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 208,556 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,077 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 8.6% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after buying an additional 26,624 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,677,000 after buying an additional 44,303 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,073,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,587,000 after acquiring an additional 814,665 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 155.4% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 31,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 18,997 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Altria Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on MO to $74 and reiterated a Buy, giving investors a clearer upside case that likely supports the stock’s uptick. UBS Raises Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks published a note highlighting Altria as a strong momentum stock, reinforcing the view that earnings/flows and defensive rotation are supporting shares. Zacks Momentum Note
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat and other outlets are featuring Altria as a high-yield, defensive income pick amid market volatility—supporting demand from income-focused investors. MarketBeat High-Yield Feature
• Positive Sentiment: Analyses (Seeking Alpha, 247WallSt) reiterate Altria’s durable cash flow and 6%-plus dividend yield, keeping it on radar as a defensive income play versus bonds. Seeking Alpha: Smoking’s Not Dead
• Neutral Sentiment: Company dividend details (quarterly $1.06; ex-dividend March 25) underpin yield attraction, but payout ratio >100% is a noted sustainability caveat. MarketBeat Dividend Analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst landscape: several firms boosted targets while others remain cautious; consensus is still around “Hold,” so upgrades are not yet consensus-driven. Analyst Coverage Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SVP Charles Whitaker sold ~27,908 shares (~$1.9M) recently, trimming his stake ~13% — a short-term negative signal that some investors may note. Insider Sale Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Recent quarterly results modestly missed EPS expectations and showed slight revenue decline YoY, reminders of demand pressures and regulatory risk that could cap multiple expansion. Earnings & Fundamentals

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1%

MO opened at $67.08 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.82 and a twelve month high of $70.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.57. The company has a market cap of $112.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $1,885,743.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 180,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,221,318.33. The trade was a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.