American Century Companies Inc. Sells 619,610 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,989,254 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 619,610 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $270,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vestor Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 93,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,468,000 after acquiring an additional 32,737 shares in the last quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $272,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 411,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,170,000 after acquiring an additional 129,742 shares in the last quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC now owns 7,604 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $689,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 729.2% during the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 55,537 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,018,000 after acquiring an additional 48,839 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $85.94 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $95.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.95. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.56 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $688.93 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.