Aviance Capital Partners LLC Has $1.01 Million Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,418 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 642 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Kepos Capital LP acquired a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total value of $347,895,646.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.60. The company had a trading volume of 14,517,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,471,379. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $61.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.12. The firm has a market cap of $488.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.94.

About Walmart

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.