First County Bank CT Sells 336 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First County Bank CT reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 336 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position 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 raised its position in Altria Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,655,000 after purchasing an additional 215,594 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $56.74 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $56.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) 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. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

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.