Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 630,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,206,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd 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 period. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $57.32. 5,732,967 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,749,983. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03. The firm has a market cap of $97.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.63.

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