Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 129,453 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 94.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,473 shares of the company's stock after selling 129,453 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. 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 acquiring an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company's stock worth $562,793,000 after acquiring an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second 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 holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company's stock worth $222,655,000 after purchasing an additional 215,594 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MO traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.76. The stock had a trading volume of 3,431,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,583,782. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.61.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business's revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.33.

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.