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

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,106,506 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,068 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.07% of Altria Group worth $56,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $57.65 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

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.