Walmart Inc. $WMT Stock Position Decreased by Bank OZK

Bank OZK cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 26.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,957 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 7,916 shares during the period. Bank OZK’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Operose Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 319.7% during the 1st quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 98.2% during the 1st quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 432.4% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Lipe & Dalton raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 95.2% during the 1st quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $109.89.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $100.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $97.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.58. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.34 and a 1-year high of $105.30. 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 firm has a market cap of $803.23 billion, a PE ratio of 43.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.66.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a dividend yield of 90.0%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.85, for a total value of $1,258,031.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 945,434 shares in the company, valued at $90,619,848.90. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total value of $216,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 628,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,334 shares of company stock valued at $13,526,350. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.