Parkside Investments LLC Lowers Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Parkside Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 60.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 46,289 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 71,720 shares during the quarter. Parkside Investments LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 271,515 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,532,000 after acquiring an additional 19,233 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Walmart by 209.7% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 885,008 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $79,960,000 after acquiring an additional 599,257 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 203,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,355,000 after purchasing an additional 9,292 shares during the period. Cushing Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $1,124,000. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WMT. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total value of $195,052.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 398,024 shares in the company, valued at $35,288,807.84. This trade represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total transaction of $2,815,113.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,451,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $94.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $758.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.95 and a 52-week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s dividend 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.