CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,934 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 508 shares during the quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,558,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. The trade was a 0.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $85.29 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 $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.74 and a 200 day moving average of $88.71.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. 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.