Apollon Wealth Management LLC Buys 268 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,865 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 268 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 298.2% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 10.1% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 306,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,896,000 after purchasing an additional 28,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% in the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.85. The stock had a trading volume of 12,050,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,849,357. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.49. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $46.82. The stock has a market cap of $75.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.94%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

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.