Cowa LLC Trims Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cowa LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,168 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,732 shares during the quarter. Cowa LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after acquiring an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 2.6 %

Walmart stock opened at $94.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.44.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 34.44%.

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.