Atria Investments Inc Sells 2,969 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Atria Investments Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 345,338 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,969 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Walmart were worth $31,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 479.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Walmart by 14.0% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the third 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. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.07.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $94.74 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.56 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $761.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.08 and a 200 day moving average of $88.03. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $1,261,968.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,293,612.80. This represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.