Central Valley Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Central Valley Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,822 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,216 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 1.1% of Central Valley Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Central Valley Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 1,007.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT opened at $97.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $779.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.43, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.90 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.86 and a 200 day moving average of $93.97.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm 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 was Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $217,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 630,518 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,451,199 shares in the company, valued at $429,896,799.42. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 137,534 shares of company stock worth $12,833,664 in the last three months. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.68.

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.