Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,046,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,500 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.12% of Altria Group worth $135,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,315,438,000 after buying an additional 886,583 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,724,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,229,000 after buying an additional 764,221 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after acquiring an additional 6,302,819 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,747,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,122,000 after acquiring an additional 132,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $63.12 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.97 and a 200-day moving average of $61.73. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.08 and a twelve month high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $105.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.30. The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 319.43% and a net margin of 37.89%. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 80.92%.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.