Aveo Capital Partners LLC Sells 5,151 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Key Points

• Aveo Capital Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Walmart by 37.1%, selling 5,151 shares, leaving them with 8,735 shares valued at $767,000.
• Insider sales included John R. Furner selling 13,125 shares worth $1.26 million and John D. Rainey selling 2,200 shares worth $216,568.
• Walmart's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $0.61, beating estimates, and a revenue increase of 2.5% year-over-year to $165.61 billion.

Aveo Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 37.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,735 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 5,151 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 9,896.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $697,029,000 after purchasing an additional 7,860,306 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 30.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,922,770,000 after purchasing an additional 7,706,201 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in Walmart by 28,684.8% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 4,229,354 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $371,295,000 after purchasing an additional 4,214,661 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Walmart by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Walmart by 33.4% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,683,991 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,201,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,615 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $103.77. 12,392,140 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,978,248. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.39. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.14 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $828.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Erste Group Bank raised Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $106.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total transaction of $216,568.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,851,623.92. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 shares were sold at an average price of $95.85, for a total value of $1,258,031.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 945,434 shares in the company, valued at $90,619,848.90. This trade 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 146,112 shares of company stock valued at $14,080,073 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.