Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 325,170 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,187 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 4.3% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $28,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Modus Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 11,651 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Fire Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,711,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $273,000. M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $701,000. Finally, DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,679,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.82, for a total transaction of $166,883.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 520,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,332,475.50. The trade was a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.37, for a total transaction of $214,214.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,718 shares in the company, valued at $61,607,751.66. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,334 shares of company stock valued at $12,615,864 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report 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 report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.94.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $97.23 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.17. The company has a market cap of $777.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.16 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

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.