Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 8,258 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,864 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,258 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $57.97 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $54.16 and its 200 day moving average is $53.42. The company has a market capitalization of $98.01 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.04%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.