2,387 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Purchased by Acropolis Investment Management LLC

Acropolis Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,985,000 after buying an additional 1,698,585 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $51.04 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.92. The company has a market capitalization of $86.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.99%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

About Altria Group

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.