Good Life Advisors LLC Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,175 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optas LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 102.1% in the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 28,725 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,000 after buying an additional 14,511 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the first quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 18,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,604,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 27.9% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 296,169 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,001,000 after purchasing an additional 64,539 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 7.1% during the first quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,605 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 94.1% during the first quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 45,774 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,018,000 after purchasing an additional 22,196 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $94.20 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $751.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.41 and a 52-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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $95.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.09.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total value of $195,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 398,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,288,807.84. The trade was a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,534 shares of company stock worth $12,833,664. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.50.

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.