Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Prepared Retirement Institute LLC

Prepared Retirement Institute LLC lowered its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 25.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,923 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 980 shares during the quarter. Prepared Retirement Institute LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 271,515 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,532,000 after buying an additional 19,233 shares in the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,658,000. Full Sail Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 8,702 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scalar Gauge Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. Scalar Gauge Management LLC now owns 69,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,234,000 after buying an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.5%

WMT opened at $94.36 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $753.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.68. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.67 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $97.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.67.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.24, for a total value of $380,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,060,455 shares in the company, valued at $100,997,734.20. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total value of $1,887,041.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,431,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,724,989.77. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 142,711 shares of company stock valued at $13,710,319. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company 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.