Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 107,590 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,964,468 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 107,590 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Walmart were worth $172,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the retailer's stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,868,000 after buying an additional 21,939 shares during the last quarter. 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 buying 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 buying an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in Walmart by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 5,657 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total transaction of $2,815,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,451,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. This trade represents a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 945,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,619,848.90. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 126,696 shares of company stock worth $12,222,245 over the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE WMT traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.45. The company had a trading volume of 12,845,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,524,539. The stock has a market capitalization of $777.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $96.76 and its 200-day moving average is $94.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Walmart's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.67.

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.