Sage Private Wealth Group LLC Sells 422 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sage Private Wealth Group LLC trimmed its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,878 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 422 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for 0.5% of Sage Private Wealth Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,868,000 after acquiring an additional 21,939 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in Walmart by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 36,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $242,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.85, for a total transaction of $1,258,031.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 945,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,619,848.90. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.77, for a total value of $166,795.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 650,977 shares in the company, valued at $61,693,090.29. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,951 shares of company stock worth $13,543,436. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.67.

Walmart Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of WMT opened at $95.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $764.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.68. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.67 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

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.