Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $10.69 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,516 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,496 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Altria Group by 415.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company's stock worth $42,935,000 after purchasing an additional 793,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company's stock worth $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $55.40. The company had a trading volume of 6,809,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,786,347. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $55.62. The stock has a market cap of $93.89 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.64. The business's 50 day moving average price is $51.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.09.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.36%. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MO shares. 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 report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.33.

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.