Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp reduced its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 680,087 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 38,444 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $59,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its position in Walmart by 1,007.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.85, for a total transaction of $1,258,031.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 945,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,619,848.90. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total value of $2,815,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,451,199 shares in the company, valued at $429,896,799.42. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 142,711 shares of company stock worth $13,710,319. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.67.

Walmart Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:WMT opened at $99.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $792.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.42, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.41. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.67 and a 12-month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

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.