New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 31,300 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,099,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,300 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.12% of Altria Group worth $123,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,290,000 after buying an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 111.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $58.98 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $61.86 and its 200-day moving average is $61.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.08 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a share 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 buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

About Altria Group

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.