Allianz SE Acquires New Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Allianz SE purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $715,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock worth $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company's stock worth $234,678,000 after purchasing an additional 93,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,232,359 shares of the company's stock worth $221,310,000 after purchasing an additional 197,945 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.8 %

MO stock traded down $1.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $58.96. The company had a trading volume of 19,146,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,921,811. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $60.20. The stock has a market cap of $99.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 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.