Trexquant Investment LP Invests $14.42 Million in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 275,855 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,424,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.00.

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Altria Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.81 on Thursday, reaching $57.93. The stock had a trading volume of 14,306,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,970,491. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $60.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $55.51 and a 200 day moving average of $53.72.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 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.