California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,923,847 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,044,485 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 0.8% of California Public Employees Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.17% of Walmart worth $1,258,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 176,652 shares of company stock valued at $16,590,028 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. DZ Bank raised Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.17.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT traded up $2.79 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $87.94. 30,255,294 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,963,820. The company has a market cap of $704.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.56 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $94.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.40. 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 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

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.