Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Sells 807 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,520 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 807 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Walmart by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 37,254 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,049,000 after buying an additional 5,578 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 66,886 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,545,000 after acquiring an additional 8,161 shares in the last quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 7,816 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its stake in Walmart by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 6,898 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on WMT. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 104,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,086,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631. Insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $59.87. 11,117,684 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,516,809. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $60.06 and a 200-day moving average of $56.06. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $61.65. The firm has a market cap of $482.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.38%.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.