Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 31,300 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 880,000 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 31,300 shares during the period. Walmart comprises 0.8% of Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Walmart were worth $79,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 grew its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after buying an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $2,522,369,000 after buying an additional 350,881 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.43.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $94.70 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.57. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.77 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

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.