Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $3.49 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 79.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,456 shares of the company’s stock after selling 261,057 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after buying an additional 32,318 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 729.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:MO opened at $57.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $57.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $52.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.90.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business 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%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Bank of America cut their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup upped their price target 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

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.