Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Sells 55,782 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 92.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,825 shares of the company's stock after selling 55,782 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Altria Group were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,793,000 after acquiring an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company's stock valued at $222,655,000 after acquiring an additional 215,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,916,000 after buying an additional 670,858 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $56.73. The stock had a trading volume of 6,617,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,232,447. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.65. The firm has a market cap of $96.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $56.84.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised 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. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.33.

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.