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

First County Bank CT lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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 quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $56.74 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.65. The company has a market cap of $96.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $56.84.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Company 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.