Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 8.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,995,206 shares of the company's stock after selling 912,520 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for about 1.1% of Pacer Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.59% of Altria Group worth $510,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1 %

MO stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $56.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,580,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,724,238. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $56.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.