Fortis Group Advisors LLC Has $1.76 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fortis Group Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 39.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,008 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13,229 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,868,000 after acquiring an additional 21,939 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in Walmart by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 36,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $242,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $95.11 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.67 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.56. The company has a market capitalization of $759.04 billion, a PE ratio of 40.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WMT. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.67.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total transaction of $1,887,041.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,431,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,724,989.77. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,851,623.92. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,951 shares of company stock valued at $13,543,436. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.