Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Sells 132,685 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. lowered its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 713,626 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 132,685 shares during the period. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $64,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,007.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $96.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $774.33 billion, a PE ratio of 40.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.04. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $59.44 and a one year high of $105.30. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,972,046.65. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,857 shares of company stock worth $12,444,743 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Walmart from $111.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.94.

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.