Cornerstone Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 360,500 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 12,300 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 1.3% of Cornerstone Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Cornerstone Advisors LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $32,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Walmart by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer's stock worth $431,632,000 after buying an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer's stock worth $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 8.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 132,180 shares of the retailer's stock worth $10,674,000 after purchasing an additional 10,090 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Walmart by 14.7% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 23,757 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its holdings in Walmart by 271.7% in the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 5,613 shares of the retailer's stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $103.20.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $87.44. 28,677,732 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,795,300. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The company's 50-day moving average price is $96.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.61. The company has a market cap of $702.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.