Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Position Lowered by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 517,007 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,996 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $26,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698,585 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Altria Group by 415.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after buying an additional 793,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in Altria Group by 19.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,916,000 after buying an additional 670,858 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.35 on Wednesday, hitting $54.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 504,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,769,311. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $55.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.