Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Reduces Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. trimmed its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123,022 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,131 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Altria Group by 71.0% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 6,907 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1,035.7% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 24.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 62,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 12,444 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 11.7% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 218,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,131,000 after purchasing an additional 22,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America dropped 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, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $56.75 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $57.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.64.

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