Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Holdings Lowered by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Key Points

• Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV reduced its holdings in Walmart by 8.2% in Q1, now owning 65,500 shares valued at $5.75 million after selling 5,829 shares.
• Walmart's stock has been rated positively by analysts, with updates from Erste Group Bank and others raising their ratings and price targets, leading to an average target price of $107.47.
• The firm announced a dividend of $0.235 per share, which will be paid on September 2nd, indicating a healthy ongoing return for investors.

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,500 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 5,829 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's holdings in Walmart were worth $5,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LWM Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,864 shares of the retailer's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 111,553 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $9,909,000 after acquiring an additional 16,342 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 75,023 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,735 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 455,029 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $39,947,000 after acquiring an additional 84,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 4,385 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $107.47.

Walmart Stock Down 0.1%

WMT stock opened at $100.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $97.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.58. The company has a market cap of $805.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.66. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.52 and a twelve month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The business's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 90.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total value of $216,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 626,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,547,399.40. 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 available at this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total value of $1,248,712.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 932,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $88,700,258.82. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 144,334 shares of company stock valued at $13,913,350. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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