12,724 Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,274 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,724 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cortland Associates Inc. MO increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Cortland Associates Inc. MO now owns 11,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Griffith & Werner Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Griffith & Werner Inc. now owns 5,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Freedom Broker upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.67.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $78.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.70 and a fifty-two week high of $79.87. The company has a market cap of $129.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.43.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.51% and a negative return on equity of 330.66%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.70 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $1.11 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kathryn McQuade purchased 1,500 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $67.62 per share, for a total transaction of $101,430.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 114,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,771,498.98. This trade represents a 1.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc. is a U.S.-based tobacco and nicotine company whose businesses focus primarily on the domestic market. Its products include cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigars, oral nicotine products and e-vapor products. Altria’s portfolio includes Marlboro cigarettes, made by Philip Morris USA; Copenhagen and Skoal smokeless tobacco products, made by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company; and products from John Middleton and Helix Innovations. The company also owns NJOY, an e-vapor brand. The company was established as Philip Morris Companies Inc. and adopted the Altria name in 2003.