Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 41,100 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Primecap Management Co. CA decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 926,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,100 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 0.05% of Altria Group worth $47,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Altria Group by 33.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 45.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 65,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 20,438 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 37,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 3,151 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $932,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $381,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $56.06 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $56.55. The company has a market cap of $95.00 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.79 and its 200 day moving average is $49.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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.