Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 58.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 68,644 shares of the company’s stock after selling 97,362 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 362,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,522,000 after purchasing an additional 15,991 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 36,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 900,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,949,000 after acquiring an additional 17,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $233,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE MO opened at $57.32 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.54. The firm has a market cap of $97.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.63. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on 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 upped their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Company 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.