Founders Financial Alliance LLC Sells 426 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Founders Financial Alliance LLC lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,865 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 426 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 562,256 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $65.38. 11,658,584 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,698,928. The firm has a market capitalization of $526.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.34 and a 52 week high of $65.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.77.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $29,195,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 653,067,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,132,597,369.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $29,195,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 653,067,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,132,597,369.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 982,038 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.39, for a total value of $64,215,464.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 644,511,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,144,629,871.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,221,033 shares of company stock valued at $518,194,888 over the last 90 days. 46.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WMT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.01.

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.