Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Fiduciary Group LLC

Fiduciary Group LLC lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 67,867 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,388 shares during the period. Walmart makes up about 1.3% of Fiduciary Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after buying an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Walmart by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after acquiring an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Walmart by 4.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,765,278 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,361,411,000 after purchasing an additional 562,256 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,081,120,000 after purchasing an additional 78,981 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,035,551 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $60.24 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $59.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.86. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.34 and a 52 week high of $61.65. The company has a market cap of $485.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.48, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.38%.

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.