Arvest Investments Inc. Sells 2,722 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Arvest Investments Inc. decreased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,456 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,722 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,007.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $103.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, June 9th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $106.50.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total value of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $340,166,630.71. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 28,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $2,716,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,064,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,252,135. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 137,534 shares of company stock valued at $12,833,664 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.20. 18,672,575 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,944,516. The company has a market cap of $751.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.09, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $95.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.08. 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 twelve month low of $66.41 and a twelve month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Walmart's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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