Trek Financial LLC Lowers Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Trek Financial LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,556 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,117 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $9,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 0.5% during the 4th 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 raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 2.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,133,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,015,818 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,796,129,000 after purchasing an additional 514,036 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. This represents a 0.73 % 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 quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

WMT traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $90.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,903,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,518,702. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $92.76 and its 200-day moving average is $89.73. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.56 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $726.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.51, a PEG 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 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $178.83 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS 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 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

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.