Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,925 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,487 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $2,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during 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 buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer's stock worth $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

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Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.90. The company had a trading volume of 8,123,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,888,033. The company has a market capitalization of $680.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $94.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.20. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,528 shares of company stock valued at $14,096,140 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.17.

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.