Leo Wealth LLC Sells 6,741 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Leo Wealth LLC cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 43.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,637 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,741 shares during the quarter. Leo Wealth LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% during the 1st 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 increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,440 shares during the last quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 115.5% during the 4th quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 7,030 shares during the period. Finally, Patron Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup increased 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE MO traded down $0.90 on Thursday, hitting $57.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,494,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,683,691. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.57 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $59.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.73. The firm has a market cap of $97.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The business's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.