State Street Corp Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

State Street Corp raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned about 4.34% of Altria Group worth $3,821,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 63.9% during 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. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.41 on Friday, reaching $57.32. 5,697,284 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,614,740. The stock has a market cap of $97.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.41. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03.

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. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.