New England Professional Planning Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

New England Professional Planning Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,459 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. New England Professional Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th 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 raised its stake in Walmart by 0.7% in the 4th 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 raised its stake in Walmart by 2.0% in the 4th 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. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its stake in Walmart by 4.0% in the 4th 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. Finally, Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.43.

Walmart Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT 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 50 day moving average of $95.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.57. 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.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 34.44%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.