Vest Financial LLC Has $53.04 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

by · The Markets Daily

Vest Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Free Report) by 14.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 604,185 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 100,337 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $53,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Whelan Financial boosted its holdings in Walmart by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 4,339 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.16.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Walmart

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.82, for a total transaction of $166,883.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 520,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,332,475.50. The trade was a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total value of $2,493,888.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,972,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 137,534 shares of company stock valued at $12,833,664. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $97.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.64 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $782.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $94.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.76.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

Walmart Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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