The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 16,068 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,106,506 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,068 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $56,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $57.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $97.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $52.40 and its 200 day moving average is $50.01. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

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.