Lane & Associates LLC Sells 487 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lane & Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,727 shares of the company’s stock after selling 487 shares during the period. Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. CMG Global Holdings LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. CMG Global Holdings LLC now owns 35,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 14.6% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 422,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,553,000 after acquiring an additional 53,832 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 151,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,747,000 after acquiring an additional 4,179 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 24,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leelyn Smith LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% in the third quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 52,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $56.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $96.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $51.87 and its 200-day moving average is $49.69. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $56.84.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company 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%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

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.