Patten & Patten Inc. TN Sells 4,889 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN lessened its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 245,526 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,889 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 1.5% of Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Walmart were worth $22,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.20.

Walmart Trading Up 0.9 %

WMT opened at $85.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.71. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $685.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Walmart

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.