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

Retirement Planning Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,063 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 833 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $252,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its position in Walmart by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 69,542 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,868,000 after purchasing an additional 21,939 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $10,645,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $217,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 630,518 shares in the company, valued at $62,421,282. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,972,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,166,630.71. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 137,534 shares of company stock valued at $12,833,664 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.16.

Walmart Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $99.39 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.64 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $795.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.24, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.67.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

Walmart Company 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.