Sivia Capital Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,892 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 0.5% of Sivia Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Sivia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Gemmer Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 19.4% during the first quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 7,410 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 38.2% during the first quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 1,085 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. CMC Financial Group purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the first quarter worth about $270,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.9% during the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 29,406 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,582,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 920,235 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $80,787,000 after purchasing an additional 47,186 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 137,534 shares of company stock worth $12,833,664. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.16.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $97.46 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $65.90 and a one year high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $779.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

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.