Lincluden Management Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Lincluden Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,764 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 9,969 shares during the period. Lincluden Management Ltd.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd 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. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,522,369,000 after acquiring an additional 350,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Walmart from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $102.43.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 348,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 194,377 shares of company stock worth $18,231,904. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $93.64 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $95.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.89. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.18 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $752.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 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 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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