Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,862,825 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 250,494 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $305,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $2,041,000. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 20,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 13,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 3,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 82,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,208,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $58.18 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $57.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.37 and a 52-week high of $60.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.01%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.