Dodge & Cox Decreases Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Dodge & Cox cut its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,310 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 13,800 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox's holdings in Walmart were worth $16,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1,007.7% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began coverage on Walmart in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Walmart from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded up $1.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $93.17. The company had a trading volume of 21,350,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,797,031. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.18. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $746.93 billion, a PE ratio of 38.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 178,782 shares of company stock worth $16,785,305. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart 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.