Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,055 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1,800.0% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE MO traded down $0.10 on Monday, reaching $43.49. 9,025,462 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,846,990. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.49. The company has a market cap of $74.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $46.82.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

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.