First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 857 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,186 shares of the company’s stock after selling 857 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategy Asset Managers LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $2,802,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,183,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $81,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 34.9% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 13.3% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 6,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MO. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $56.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $95.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $56.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current 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.