Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 971 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,140,634 shares of the company’s stock after selling 971 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.13% of Altria Group worth $109,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698,585 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Altria Group by 415.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,935,000 after purchasing an additional 793,327 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.2 %

MO stock opened at $56.73 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $56.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.87 and a 200 day moving average of $49.69.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

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.