State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in Altria Group by 9.2%, selling 56,985 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with 565,682 shares valued at approximately $33.95 million.
• Altria Group recently reported earnings of $1.44 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.37, with quarterly revenue rising to $5.29 billion.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their price targets on Altria Group, with Morgan Stanley increasing from $57 to $62 and Stifel Nicolaus raising their target from $63 to $65, reflecting growing investor interest.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 9.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 565,682 shares of the company's stock after selling 56,985 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Altria Group were worth $33,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock worth $2,162,000 after buying an additional 5,440 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 12.2% during the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock worth $733,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 152.2% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 58,268 shares of the company's stock worth $3,497,000 after buying an additional 35,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.5170 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.5070. 6,157,690 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,160,136. The business's 50-day moving average price is $60.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.44. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $66.60. The company has a market capitalization of $111.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.