Vance Wealth LLC Decreases Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Vance Wealth LLC cut its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,048 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 714 shares during the quarter. Vance Wealth LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Walmart by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,325 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,565,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $252,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 7,501 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 111,987 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,118,000 after buying an additional 17,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,406 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,018,000 after buying an additional 923 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.37, for a total transaction of $214,214.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,607,751.66. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,558,247 shares in the company, valued at $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,035 shares of company stock valued at $12,445,082. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $98.10 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $91.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.66. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $63.87 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $784.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WMT. Mizuho assumed coverage on Walmart in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.94.

Walmart Profile

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.