Avitas Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,708 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 479 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 1.5% of Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 112.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 212 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Lipe & Dalton bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its position in Walmart by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 282 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 31.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMT. StockNews.com began coverage on Walmart in a report on Thursday. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Walmart from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 6th. Credit Suisse Group set a $170.00 price objective on Walmart and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Walmart in a report on Tuesday, December 6th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $159.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Atlantic Securities increased their price objective on Walmart from $150.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.44.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8 %

WMT stock opened at $139.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $117.27 and a 12-month high of $160.77. The stock has a market cap of $375.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average is $142.27 and its 200 day moving average is $141.04.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.20. Walmart had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 20.45%. The business had revenue of $164.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 7th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.81, for a total value of $633,543.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 255,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,935,093.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.81, for a total value of $633,543.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 255,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,935,093.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 852,215 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.26, for a total transaction of $122,940,535.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 266,841,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,494,543,249.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,830,325 shares of company stock valued at $1,378,798,478 in the last ninety days. 47.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Profile

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Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.