Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 312,949 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,476 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $15,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,051,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,786,000 after acquiring an additional 35,953 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 58.9% during the third quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 63,667 shares of the company's stock worth $3,250,000 after purchasing an additional 23,611 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 60,830 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,105,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 71.0% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 16,641 shares of the company's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 6,907 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Altria Group stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.65. The company had a trading volume of 5,473,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,701,619. The stock has a market cap of $97.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, 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 $58.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $52.25 and a 200 day moving average of $49.96.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

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.