Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,236 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 286 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $85.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $685.19 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,891,867.94. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.20.

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.