Sunbelt Securities Inc. Acquires 5,909 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 14.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,459 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 5,909 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whelan Financial boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 4,339 shares of the retailer's stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer's stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Scott & Selber Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 2,920 shares of the retailer's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Van Strum & Towne Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer's stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Planning Center Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Planning Center Inc. now owns 6,018 shares of the retailer's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two investment 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.50.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $217,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 630,518 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $62,421,282. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total transaction of $1,887,041.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,431,783 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,724,989.77. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 142,711 shares of company stock valued at $13,688,803 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $97.41 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.67 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $96.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $777.37 billion, a PE ratio of 41.63, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Walmart's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors 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 payout ratio is 40.17%.

Walmart Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WMT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.