Providence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 526 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Providence Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 17.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,428 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 526 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Whelan Financial boosted its position in Walmart by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 4,339 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 25,915 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 3.7% during the first quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 2,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 1.4% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,794 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lauterbach Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 1.8% during the first quarter. Lauterbach Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,885 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Walmart from $107.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Walmart from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.47.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total value of $1,248,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 932,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,700,258.82. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 owned 4,451,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. This trade represents a 0.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 144,334 shares of company stock worth $13,913,350. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $100.91 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $97.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.58. The company has a market capitalization of $805.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.78. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.52 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a dividend yield of 90.0%. 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.