Fisher Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,355 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,444 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,985,000 after buying an additional 1,698,585 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Altria Group by 415.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,935,000 after buying an additional 793,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after buying an additional 670,858 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their price objective 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 Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $57.65 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $52.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.01. The company has a market cap of $97.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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.