Phoenix Financial Ltd. Has $22.43 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Phoenix Financial Ltd. lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 247,933 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 62,035 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $22,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. F M Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 163,487 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $14,771,000 after buying an additional 9,223 shares in the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,119 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,637,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Walmart by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 4,817 shares of the retailer's stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 38,553 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,483,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 102,920 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $9,299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Walmart in a research note on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Three investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $94.00. 10,248,426 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,631,520. The stock's fifty day moving average is $92.43 and its 200 day moving average is $89.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $753.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 178,852 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,080 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.