Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. Sells 427 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. trimmed its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,069 shares of the company’s stock after selling 427 shares during the quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $49.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.60 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.53. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.19%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MO. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.17.

Altria Group Company 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.