GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Cuts Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA cut its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,305 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,094 shares during the quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.20.

Walmart Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $85.29 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.74 and a 200-day moving average of $88.80. The firm has a market cap of $685.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.56 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

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.