Summit Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 52,872 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 7,381 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,194,278,000 after buying an additional 2,050,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted 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 worth $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,015,818 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,796,129,000 after purchasing an additional 514,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.58.

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Walmart Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE WMT traded up $1.09 on Tuesday, hitting $95.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,780,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,639,241. 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 firm has a market cap of $768.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.79, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $92.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.06. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Walmart's payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at $52,859,472.96. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,852 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,080. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.