Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Position Reduced by Oakwell Private Wealth Management LLC

Oakwell Private Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,935 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Oakwell Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Walmart by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after buying an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.07.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction 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 approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total transaction of $1,661,792.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 4.4 %

WMT opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.18 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $785.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. 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 $95.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.10.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

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.