Apollon Wealth Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,675 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,489 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2%

MO traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $58.08. 3,206,411 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,656,939. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.09 and a 200-day moving average of $56.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.82 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.57 and a 12-month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.34%.

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.