Traders Snapping Up Puts on Altria Group

Shares of Altria Group MO are lower on the session by 1.87%, currently trading at $25.97. The stock has been moving largely higher over the past three weeks and is currently trading above the 50-day moving average. Options traders are focusing on puts today. A short while ago the October 2011 $26.00 put traded 3,800 times on open interest of 214 contracts. The trade was down above the offer. Since then, over 14,000 contract have traded. Altria Group, Inc. is a holding company. As of December 31, 2010, Altria Group, Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiaries included Philip Morris USA Inc., which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and certain smokeless products in the United States; UST LLC, which through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the manufacture and sale of smokeless products and wine, and John Middleton Co., which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco.