Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 129,453 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 94.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,473 shares of the company’s stock after selling 129,453 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $41,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $55.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $94.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $53.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.61. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MO. Citigroup lifted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.