New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 66,767 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,720,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,767 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.10% of Altria Group worth $89,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $53.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.60%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.