New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 247,100 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 10.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,130,700 shares of the company's stock after selling 247,100 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.13% of Altria Group worth $127,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,670 shares of the company's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,740 shares of the company's stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,892,000. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 7,153 shares of the company's stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.76 on Friday, hitting $57.79. 9,428,820 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,670,404. The firm has a market cap of $97.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.53 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.63.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The company's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.06%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

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.