AQR Capital Management LLC Has $305.45 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,862,825 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 250,494 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Altria Group worth $305,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.57.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Altria Group stock traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.11. The company had a trading volume of 13,417,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,795,168. The company has a 50 day moving average of $57.45 and a 200-day moving average of $54.72. The firm has a market cap of $99.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.37 and a 52 week high of $60.18.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.